Family Relations
by Be Boring
Summary: ..COMPLETED.. As Zack's SIC, Jondy finds out that seeing the family isn't quite how she had expected it would be.
1. The Casteau's

Disclaimer: I think it's a given, but I own nothing except for any original characters you come across.

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Family Relations

By Be Boring

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Chapter 1:The Casteau's

The lunchroom was bustling with high school students carrying trays that they were occasionally studying with a wary eye. If pre-Pulse school food was considered gross, post-Pulse was downright horrendous. Kids only ate it if they absolutely had to, which most did because it was the only free meal they'd be able to receive. For one girl in the room, it was the only meal she was guaranteed to get at all.

Watching the students move past, Jondy almost shoveled her food down. She could easily get past the taste if it meant getting something into her stomach. Most of the people at this school believed that she had it all: beauty, brains, and a rich foster family. Well, they were right about the first two even if she wouldn't admit it, but the last one was taken with a rather large grain of salt. She _did_ have a rich foster family, but she herself was not rich in any sense of the word. 

The Casteau's had more money than they could possibly know what to do with, but the same could be said of how many foster children they had. In these days there were so many homeless kids that foster homes received a respectable break in taxes for every child they took in. Like most rich people in this post-Pulse world, the Casteau's were stingy with their money, so they brought the foster kids in by the truckloads. There were already fifteen kids in that huge mansion, but they weren't as happy as some might have expected them to be. 

It was hard to decide what was the worst: being locked in one room with four kids without having any personal space, having their foster parents forget to feed them occasionally or take away food as an unnecessary punishment, or the effect the combination of these things was having on her body. Jondy knew she had turned sixteen already, but she was much smaller than the other girls in her class in many ways. She was only 5'1", had a waist that was so tiny people joked one punch would break her in half, and she had practically no breasts. In fact, she hadn't gone through most of the things that girls experienced in puberty. She understood that she might not have the menstrual cycles that normal women had, but shouldn't she at least look like a woman? Everybody called her a liar when she claimed to be sixteen, she looked much closer to twelve. Other than a minor growth spurt and the length of her hair, she hadn't changed much since the escape from Manticore. She had to wonder if this lifestyle was stunting her growth or if she had been meant to turn out like this. 

"What are you thinking about?" came an all too familiar male voice from mere inches away from her ear. 

"Nothing that concerns you," Jondy grumbled in reply, deliberately not looking in his direction. A rather good-looking seventeen-year-old boy lowered himself into the seat next to her, apparently not noticing her hostility. With his short, spiky black hair and shockingly dark brown eyes, Victor Genteman undoubtedly had the most dangerous appearance of any of the guys in school. He always wore baggy jeans without a belt, long black T-shirts sporting profane statements, and a tattered denim jacket that looked as though it had seen more years than he had. As much as Jondy didn't like how he seemed to feel the need to come off as a bad boy, that wasn't what she considered to be the worst thing about him. He was one of the foster kids sharing a room with her at 'home'.

"C'mon Hannah, you're always so negative. I just don't get that. For a girl with such rare beauty as yours, you don't seem to realize how much life can offer you. Instead you ponder old, forgotten days that bring you no joy," he commented, with a slightly British accent that wasn't convincing in the least.

"Great, now you're becoming a poet of some sort?" she snorted, finally turning to look at him. She had never heard anything remotely that intelligent ever leave his lips before.

He frowned, as if he'd just realized the same thing as she had. "Sorry, I just came out of American Literature. Poetry happens to be what we're studying right now, and I haven't been able to stop talking like that since class ended. Don't be too impressed though, those were just phrases I picked up from the poems. Do you really think I could come up with that on my own?"

"I hadn't even considered giving you credit for what you said, I didn't think for a second that you could say anything that nice. Why aren't you sitting by anyone you actually get along with? Do you have to bother me when I'm trying to force down the only meal I could get today?"

"It's not like I'm going to enjoy this crap much more than you do. Besides, the guys all decided to skip school today."

Most people would have asked why he hadn't skipped along with them, but Jondy knew better. The last time he had tried that was two years ago, shortly after he had arrived at the mansion, and he hadn't even thought once about doing it since. When the Casteau's had found out about what he'd done, Mr. Casteau had taken a belt after him and left at least twenty-five welts on Victor's backside from head to toe. He hadn't been able to sit right for at least two weeks, but they had forced him to go to school anyways. That was probably one of the few times that Jondy had ever felt sorry for him.

"Wow, I never thought I'd see the two of you sitting next to each other!" chirped Brandi Mazdi, Jondy's best friend and the only person in this building that seemed to be happy twenty-four hours a day. She wasn't much taller than Jondy, which suited Jondy just fine, and she had short auburn hair that stuck out in almost every direction but still managed to look good. Her sharp eyes moved back and forth between Jondy and Victor, then a sly smile stole over her face. "You know, you two would make the cutest couple. I mean it's like a cross between Miss America and America's Most Wanted."

Victor scowled, he'd never liked Brandi very much, but Jondy's milk nearly shot out of her nose as she tried to stifle her giggles. Brandi was right, they _did_ look like a cross between Miss America and America's Most Wanted. For every bad boy feature that Victor had, she had something to contradict it perfectly. Her hair was a light honey brown, but not quite light enough to be considered blond, and fell in a mixture of various waves and curls to the center of her back. Large, round, innocent blue eyes often made her look like a deer in the headlights, but most people said they were suited for her. Mix into that her smooth, always tanned skin, high but not bold cheekbones, and slender frame, and she certainly sounded like she'd fit the role of Miss America perfectly.

"I don't date little kids. Besides, I'm taken," Victor snapped, glaring sulkily down at his tray.

"Fine, be that way," Brandi grumbled, doing an incredible impression of his mannerisms as she started to eat. Jondy choked back some more giggles, then quickly swallowed the last of whatever that meat was on her tray.

"I've got to go talk to Mr. Rodriguez, so don't you two kill each other while I'm gone." She was aware of their glares as she left the table, but she forced any guilty thoughts aside. She didn't really have to talk to her Advanced Algebra teacher, she just had to be alone. She needed at least twenty minutes to herself each day, which usually happened between leaving school and when she had to return home, but today was different. Today their foster parents were doing their monthly check of the rooms.

*****

Getting home early was something Jondy had never tried to do, but she couldn't stay away when the house needed to be ready. Usually this was done on the weekend, so they had all day to make sure their room was in perfect shape, but her parents were going away this weekend and postponing the check was something that would never cross their minds. Everybody had done their best to pick up stray things that morning, but they would have to practically scrub the room from top to bottom in order to pass their foster parents' scrutinizing eyes. 

Jason and Mindy, the only kids that hadn't started school yet, were already doing their best when she entered the room. Jondy reached down and fondly ruffled Jason's white-blond hair. It was so sad that she had to see such an innocent four-year-old face like this lathered in sweat from all the work he'd done to please a pair of old rich bastards. Even Mindy's hair was wringing wet in its ponytail, which hung limply and was letting loose strands out around her face.

"Come on guys, sit down and take a break. I'll take over, and Victor and Cassie will be here in a little while to help out too. Why don't you guys sneak in a nap before everybody else gets back?" By everybody else, she was pretty much referring to Victor. Cassie, who had to be one of the quietest twelve-year-olds on the face of the planet, would be able to avoid waking the little ones up, but Victor liked to make a racket. If he had to work, then by God those little kids were going to work too. That's how he saw it anyways. Neither Jondy nor Cassie liked his way of seeing things. Those poor kids had probably been working at their slow but determined pace all day, and he would be sure to make them start working twice as hard as soon as he saw that they were lying on their beds. 

It was at least a half hour before Cassie showed up, her face flushed as though she'd been running for a while. "Sorry about being so late, but I got a detention in World History. I don't think they're going to send anything home though." She sounded immensely relieved about this. "Where's the living nightmare?"

"Probably screwing his girlfriend before he has to come home and face the real world. I just hope he makes it back before the check, or we'll be the ones paying hell for it." Jondy finally sat down on her bed, which felt more like a load of golf balls shoved into a scratchy cloth bag. The room only needed for its linoleum floor to be swept and washed, and for its tiny carpeted area to be vacuumed. She figured Cassie could do the vacuuming and sweeping, which was easy enough, then Victor could get down on his hands and knees when he came home to scrub the floor. Cassie walked out of the room, heading for where they could both hear the steady hum of the vacuum cleaner in the next room.

She returned with a worried look on her face. "Poor Kyle, he's the only one in there and that room is still a mess. They get breakfast taken away for a month if that room isn't to our parents' liking."

Jondy was about to make a comment about the fact that Cassie had called the Casteau's their parents, but decided against it and instead headed over to the next room where Kyle was running around frantically trying to make the room look decent. His young face lit up with relief when she came in, and together they had it looking pretty damn good in no time. It wasn't until they had finished that she turned back to him. "Where's everybody else? I swear they do this to you whenever they get the chance. Where did they go?"

"The girls snuck down to the kitchen to talk with Patty, and the boys are hiding in one of the closets. I'm just no good at this parenting stuff."

This might have sounded strange to anyone living somewhere else, but for the Casteau mansion this kind of talk was natural. There were three rooms of this house that each held five kids compacted together, although there was more than enough space in this house for them all to have their own room and not even see each other if they didn't want to. There was usually a pair of teenagers that ended up acting as parents for the others, someone in the middle to help out with anything extra, and two little kids. This room was the only one that didn't follow suit. Kyle was the oldest, but he was only thirteen years old. None of the other kids in here had even reached ten yet. This meant that Kyle was worn down to his breaking point from the stress of taking care of four children when he was still a child himself.

She opened her mouth to assure him that he wasn't doing a bad job at all given what he had to work with, but at that moment she heard heavy footsteps making their way down the hallway. Victor had finally made his way home. "Go down and get everybody so we can wait for the room check. I'll be back later." She slid silently out into the hallway to follow him to their room. His dark eyes immediately told her he was in a dangerously bad mood. 

"What do you want?" he snapped, his eyes flashing down over her work clothes.

"First, I want to know where the hell you were, and second, I want you to wash the floor. You knew the check was coming today, but you weren't here to help us get ready! They'll probably be up here in five or ten minutes, and we're the ones who did all the work!"

"Just shut the fuck up, if you want to know so badly then I'll tell you where I was. I was out getting dumped by my girlfriend! Are you happy now?"

"As a matter of fact, I am! It'll keep your mind on task, which is where it should be! You're lucky you haven't knocked her up by now, unless that's the reason she's breaking up with you."

He scowled and threw his jacket onto the nearest bed, which finally encouraged Mindy to climb out of it and slip out into the hallway to go into Kyle's room. Jason followed closely behind, while Cassie wildly began to make the beds again. Jondy quickly noted that she'd already washed the floor even though they were supposed to be saving that for Victor to do. _At least one of us around here is thinking clearly._ Her attention was quickly returned to Victor as he nearly overturned their tiny homework table. "Do you really think I'm that stupid? We used protection, I'm not looking to have kids anytime soon. She's just breaking up with me because she thinks the only thing I'm interested in is sex."

"But isn't that true?"

"Of course it is! Come on, you must feel like going out and getting laid every now and then. This place is a hellhole! Fucking Michelle was the only thing I ever had to look forward to. Frankly, jacking off just doesn't cut it anymore." Jondy saw the look of disgust flash across Cassie's face from over Victor's shoulder. "How do you suggest I get rid of that extra stress now? I don't have anybody available to me right now." Suddenly he paused and ran his eyes down her body again, much slower this time. Now Jondy was pretty sure he wasn't looking at her work clothes. "Unless, of course, you felt like getting rid of some stress with me."

Her face immediately told him what she thought of that. "Sorry, I'd rather screw one of the guard dogs. They'd probably be better equipped." A smirk crossed her face at the new flare of anger in his eyes.

"Excuse me? How about waiting to judge the merchandise until you've seen it?" His entire countenance seemed to undergo a complete change as he stepped towards her, suddenly far too close for comfort. She quickly stepped back, just barely managing to keep herself from falling as her foot slipped on the teddy bear that Mindy had accidentally dropped on the floor. As her focus was momentarily pulled away from him, Victor took the opportunity to reach out and grab her arm to pull her flat against him. Her eyes widened slightly as she felt what he apparently hadn't been able to use earlier that afternoon and seemed dead set on using now. Then, for the first time in seven years, her soldier instincts kicked in. 

Victor didn't even know what had hit him as he was suddenly flung over her shoulder and spun around to be slammed face first against the wall. He grunted in pain at the same time that Cassie cried out with shock, making a noise loud enough to easily carry downstairs to where their "parents" were getting ready to start their room check. Light footsteps rushed down the hall as Mindy, Jason, Kyle, and his younger charges Haley, Dawn, David, and Mark came running into the room. There was some movement heard from the third room down the hall as the other five kids heard the commotion, but they didn't come running to check it out. Unlike everybody in the second floor with the exception of Jondy, they could hear the heavy footsteps of their foster parents and their security coming up the stairs.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Victor yelped as she twisted his arm nearly to the point of breaking and tightened her fingers on the back of his neck. Although she could hear the approach of the exact people that she _didn't _want to see her in a position like this, she couldn't make herself let him go. It seemed that her long-forgotten muscles enjoyed being used again, and no amount of common sense was going to make them release him. _I'd only have to move my hand a little to break his neck. It wouldn't take much, just a little twist. _Fortunately or not, she would have to decide later, the room was suddenly flooded with adults and she was being pulled away from the temptation of killing her eldest roommate. In only moments she was brought face to face with her foster father.

"What's going on here?" 

She was saved the trouble of answering him as Victor spat out, "The psycho-bitch attacked me! I only brushed against her and suddenly she pulled some kung-fu thing and shoved me against the wall! You might want to test her for steroids, 'cause there's no other way she could have pulled something like that."

"Only brushed against me? You were about to rip off your pants in front of me! And don't waste your time, I'm not on any fucking steroids!" she growled as she pulled her arm away from one of the guards who had pulled out a syringe, apparently thinking of taking a blood sample on the spot. 

Her "father" held out a hand to stop the guard from persisting with the needle. "Don't bother, I have a different job for you. Keep the children here, we're taking this one downstairs. We're going to have a little _friendly_ discussion in the library." While his words almost sounded warm, the strange shadow in his eyes made Jondy's stomach lurch unpleasantly. She couldn't interpret what that look meant, but something told her that it was foreboding something bad for her.


	2. Friendly Discussion

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the Casteau's and the vast majority of their foster kids.

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Family Relations

By Be Boring

**Chapter 2: "Friendly" Discussion**

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"Since I like to think of myself as a reasonable man, I'll let this one slip. All that I ask is that you stop taking whatever it is that you're on, and don't disturb anything else where that boy is concerned. In order to make sure you're following my orders, I'm going to have some of my men keep an eye on you for a few days. I wouldn't want you to make a mistake and forget your promise."

The funny part was that she hadn't promised her foster father anything, but he had gone ahead as if she had. Even worse, she had been watched for more than a few days. It was a week later now, and the three men she jokingly referred to as her stalkers showed no signs of leaving her alone. The only good thing was that Victor was staying as far away from her as possible, although she didn't know if it was because her stalkers made him uncomfortable or if he was afraid of what she could do to him. It was probably a combination of the two.

"Do those guys have to follow you around in school? It's like you don't have any time to be alone," Brandi grumbled. The two girls were sitting in an empty classroom that they always went to talk in.

"I don't," Jondy replied glumly. "The only time I don't have someone staring at me is when I go to the bathroom, but if I stayed in there too long they'd probably come in after me. I swear it feels like I haven't smiled in weeks."

Suddenly, Brandi sat up as far as she could in her seat. "There's something that will make you smile. Look at the new guy!"

Jondy glanced over disinterestedly, but was brought quickly to attention when she got a good look at the boy walking down the hallway. She and Brandi rushed to the doorway to peer out at him, although he hadn't noticed them yet. "Wow, I'm not sure I've ever seen someone as well built as that," Jondy whispered. He was probably a senior, while she was only a sophomore, but she would take a shot at him any day. He had to be at least six feet tall, with blonde hair that was long enough to just barely reach his blue eyes, and a very muscular body. He also seemed to have a brooding look, as though he didn't smile often. It suited him though.

"Wow, I hope he's sticking around," Brandi murmured, more to herself than to Jondy. "Hannah, how old do you think he is? He looks like he's nineteen to me, but then why would he be in school?"

"Lots of people start school late or get held back a year these days. Not that it matters, I'm just glad he's here. We've got ourselves some eye candy!" she cracked. Suddenly, as though he had sensed their gazes or their words, he paused in mid-stride and turned his head slightly back at them. While Brandi pulled herself back into the classroom with speed that Jondy hadn't even known she'd possessed, Jondy felt strangely frozen in place. A part of her didn't want him to see her, but another part insisted that she at least make eye contact. That didn't take too long.

As soon as his eyes met hers, a chill ran down her spine and all the way to her toes. _Who is that? I've seen him before, but why can't I remember where?_ However, she didn't see any sign of recognition in his eyes. Still, he smiled at her as he seemed to search her face quickly, then turned and continued down the hall. Her face flushed and she turned to face Brandi, struggling to keep a grin from popping out.

"Ooh, he did something, didn't he? Did he see you?"

"Yeah, he looked right at me. I think he liked me," she whispered, suddenly not wanting anyone to overhear her. 

Brandi laughed and gestured with her hands at Jondy. "Well why wouldn't he? Have you ever taken a good look in the mirror, Hannah? You're like a model!"

"I have the body of a twelve-year-old," she muttered in reply. "He only saw my face, if I had stepped out farther he wouldn't have even taken a second look at me."

"That's not true. You sell yourself short too much, your body is just fine. Just because you don't have big curves doesn't mean that you don't look like a woman. Besides, your face just might have him sold on you already."

"I'm not going to bother thinking about him, I probably won't even get a chance to talk to him," Jondy said, trying to make her voice carefree. She didn't know how wrong she was.

~~~~~

Finally, her favorite class of the day arrived: gym class. Sure, Jondy was great in all her other classes since she knew most of the material already, but she truly loved using her physical abilities, even if she had to hold most of them back. It was the one place where she felt completely secure in school, although her stalkers made her more worried about her skill in gym getting back to her foster father. She really didn't know what he would do if he ever found out what she really was, but something told her that he wouldn't hesitate to sell her to the highest bidder to make himself more money. Spending the rest of her life in a lab didn't really appeal to her too much.

"Ready to kick some ass?" Brandi joked, pulling her hair back into a ponytail as they walked out from the locker room. She had already latched onto her friend in class, determined to be on the same team so that she would be guaranteed to be on the winning side. Her own athletic abilities were pretty decent, but Jondy completely outclassed her.

"Always," Jondy smiled. They were usually the first ones out, so they lowered themselves to the floor to wait for everybody else to come out. Jondy caught a glimpse of her stalkers standing just outside the gym doors, talking on their cell phones. They glanced in her direction, forcing her to look down at the floor and become overly interested in a black mark that was there.

Brandi started poking her in the arm excitedly. "Hannah, you won't believe who's in our class!"

Jondy's head snapped up and she was stunned to see the new boy walking towards them wearing black shorts and a gray tank top that defined his well-shaped pectoral muscles. Brandi was the first one to find her voice however as he reached them. "You don't look young enough to be in sophomore P.E. Not that I'm disappointed, it's just strange." She gave him a flirtatious smile, which he really didn't seem to know what to do about. If anything, Brandi was making him uncomfortable. He flashed Jondy a brief look that seemed to scream _"Help!"_

"Nothing else that I wanted could fit into my schedule, so I took this," he mumbled, trying his best not to make eye contact with Brandi. Any further conversation was cut short as the other students finally made their way into the gym and Mr. Jakesby came out with his clipboard in hand. Brandi and Jondy immediately jumped to their feet, they were really supposed to be stretching until he came out. 

"Ok everybody, run five laps and then we'll talk about what we'll be doing today." Everybody groaned, but it didn't really bother Jondy. Five laps was nothing for her, even if it left some other people puffing wildly. Sure enough, at least seven kids bent over and stood with their hands on their knees, trying to catch their breath when the laps were completed. 

"Well, as you all know, someone vandalized the back room and thought they'd be funny by puncturing all the balls and taking the ones that weren't filled with air. So now we all have to make due without them. I have to say though, I am glad about one thing. By taking away the balls that we would have normally used, these students have forced the school to allow me to teach you something that I've wanted to teach for a long time, but they wouldn't let me because they were afraid it would be used in the wrong way. Today, we're going to learn a little bit about self-defense."

_I've already passed that class,_ Jondy thought sarcastically. Still, she listened patiently as he started describing the different situations that they could find themselves in and just how they should handle each one, but she didn't really become interested until he said they were going to try out a few of the situations.

"I want to you to pair up with somebody of the opposite sex first, and we'll go through how to defend yourself if someone comes up behind you."

Pairing up was something that Jondy didn't usually like because she never knew who to go with if she couldn't be with Brandi, but she was surprised to see the new boy immediately step over by her. He towered over her; she barely reached his collarbone. _Damn, everybody's going to get suspicious if I flip him right over my shoulder._ As everyone took their positions, she started to feel a little nervous. She wasn't sure she could override her instincts, which would immediately send him flying when he grabbed her. After listening to Mr. Jakesby describe how they were going to use the momentum of their attacker against them by bending over and flipping them forward, she tried to block out everything in her that was getting excited by the prospect of using some of her training. Why did Manticore have to instill the urge to fight in them? _It's okay, I can control it,_ she reassured herself. Suddenly, the whistle was blown and the boy's hands came around her neck. Without even batting an eyelash, Jondy grabbed one of his arms and hurled her weight forward, sending him straight into the ground in front of her. _Dammit,_ she groaned inwardly. 

"Are you okay?" she whispered nervously, trying to ignore the stares of the other students.

He nodded and sat up, not looking shaken whatsoever. _I must have held back somewhat, otherwise he wouldn't have sat up so easily. _"I'm okay, but you've got quite an arm on you." Rather than looking shocked, he seemed amused. She had to force herself not to grin foolishly at the light in his eyes as he looked at her. She felt like she was a normal, six-year-old, pre-Pulse girl on Christmas, his smile was a gift better than anything she could have received after her horrible week.

Mr. Jakesby walked over to them, looking at her with an interest he'd never had before. "Ms. Michaels, where did you learn to do that?"

Jondy's throat tightened as she realized that not only was the entire class staring at her, but so were her stalkers. "Lived on the streets as a kid, so I know half of this self-defense stuff," she replied quickly, wishing that she sounded more convincing. He studied her skeptically, but didn't question her any farther. Jondy only stared at the ground as everyone continued watching her while getting back into position. This time the partners had to switch places and do the same thing, so she walked behind the boy, suddenly wishing she knew his name. It would be nice if she knew the name of the only person in the room who wasn't looking at her like a freak.

At the whistle, she rushed forward and grabbed his neck, preparing to be flipped over. It wasn't like she was that heavy, he'd be able to do it easily. What really surprised her was the force with which she hit the floor. It nearly knocked the wind out of her, and once again everybody had turned in their direction. Brandi came running over, rubbing her back in the spot that had hit the floor the hardest. "Oh my God, Hannah! Are you okay? Why the hell did you do it that hard?" she yelled at the boy, who didn't seem fazed by her anger at all.

"She's fine, ask her yourself if you don't believe me."

Jondy nodded before Brandi could say anything and quickly climbed to her feet to show that she was alright. He hadn't done it roughly enough to really hurt her, but hard enough to let her know he was very strong. Why had he done that? She turned and looked straight into his eyes, unsettled to see that he once again seemed amused. She felt one of the chills she had felt earlier rush through her, so that she was forced to break eye contact with him. "Brandi, relax. It sounded painful, but it wasn't." Now her stalkers left the doorway, pulling out their cell phones as they went. _Shit, I'm not going to like going home tonight._

"I have to give it to you, you took that pretty well," the boy whispered as everyone finally turned away again.

She scowled at him. "It doesn't matter how well I took it, today was not a good day to pull something like that." He seemed shocked by her sudden anger, but she ignored him and partnered up with Brandi as Mr. Jakesby told everyone to now get together with someone of the same sex. She didn't really want to talk to him anymore.

~~~~~

Jondy wasn't looking forward to going home, but it ended up being very different from what she had expected. The moment she stepped through the door, she was nearly run over by one of the servants who was rushing past with an armload of plates. Right behind him was the maid with a couple handfuls of silverware and a package of napkins under one arm. As the butler trailed along after them while trying to balance a platter of chicken on one hand and a dish of scalloped potatoes in the other, she reached out and gently tapped his arm. "What's going on today?"

Evidently not pleased with having someone talk to him while he was busy, the butler snapped, "Mr. and Mrs. Casteau made last minute dinner plans with an old friend, so if you don't mind, I have a lot of work to do." She stepped aside to prevent him from walking straight through her, then headed upstairs. This old friend couldn't have had better timing, now she wouldn't have to face her foster parents about her interesting gym class for at least a day.

"Why are you so happy?" Mindy asked innocently as soon as Jondy came into their room. She was sitting on the bed where Jason was napping peacefully, playing with a couple dolls that Patty had snuck up to them.

"Nothing much. How has your day been?"

Mindy shrugged and held her finger against the shoulder of one of the dolls, where the arm was coming off. "It was ok. Jason don't feel good again."

Jondy sighed and sat down next to Jason to feel his forehead. He didn't even wake up at her touch, and his skin was almost scalding against her palm. "Maybe he has the flu again," she said thoughtfully, sadly wishing that Jason could have ended up with a foster family that cared more. He was such a sensitive little boy, so all the sickness was probably a result of his own frustration and loneliness. No matter how much he loved the girls in his room, what he really needed was a good family with loving parents. Perhaps he would cheer up when he started school. Having friends his own age other than Mindy would be good for him.

"Is Cassie home yet?"

Mindy looked around nervously, then leaned ridiculously close to Jondy as she whispered, "She has a _boyfriend!_"

"So she's with him?" Jondy asked, amused by the mixture of wonder and disgust in the little girl's voice.

"Yeah, she told me not to let anyone but you know. Even Jason doesn't know, he was sleeping when she told me. Isn't Cassie too young?"

"Well, twelve is pretty young, but these days it's not that much of a stretch. Besides, Cassie's a responsible girl, she's not going to do anything stupid." Jondy was saying this more for her own benefit than for Mindy's because she desperately wanted to believe it herself. She trusted Cassie enough, but she didn't trust any males in this state, let alone in Minneapolis. How did she know that some pervert wouldn't try to take advantage of an innocent girl? She felt towards Cassie like she felt towards her siblings in Manticore; she would do anything to protect her. "Do you know who it is?"

At this, Mindy grew very silent. Her eyes had widened to a point that Jondy was sure couldn't be considered natural, and her tiny little hands started toying with each other's fingers. "She didn't tell me."

"Mindy, you're a terrible little liar, so you may as well spit it out. Who is she with?"

Without any warning, Mindy turned and tore out of the room as fast as her stubby little legs could carry her. Jondy was so caught off guard by this that it took her a few seconds to realize what had happened and take off after her. The door to Kyle's room slammed shut just before she reached it, and she heard Mindy start clicking all the locks shut. "Mindy! Open this door right now!" she shouted, pounding against the rich mahogany wood furiously. "Kyle? Are you in there? Talk some sense into her and let me in!" She could hear Kyle's soft tones trying to reason with Mindy, but her insistent little voice let both of them know right away that she had no intention of letting Jondy into the room, much less tell her who Cassie's boyfriend was. 

"Sorry, Hannah, but I don't think we're going to get anything out of her. I'd let you in, but she has one of the keys in her mouth and is threatening to swallow it," Kyle called out.

"Ok, I guess I'll go back to my room then," Jondy replied, then made loud, deliberate footsteps as she walked back to her room. After waiting a few seconds, she turned and snuck back soundlessly so that she was right next to Kyle's door. Finally she heard the tentative unlocking of the many locks that she had fastened and the door cracked open slightly. Jondy pressed herself against the wall so that she wasn't in the little girl's line of sight and waited for her to step out. As soon as Mindy had stepped far enough out of the room that she wouldn't be able to scurry back inside, Jondy jumped forward and wrapped her arms around her so that she couldn't strike out, then hoisted her up so that she could carry her back into Kyle's room. She didn't want to go back into her own room because she didn't want to disturb Jason, so she figured this was as good a place as any.

"Just tell me and this will all be over, honey," she gasped, surprised at how hard it was to control such a little kid. _If it wears me out, how do normal people do it?_

Mindy screamed at the top of her lungs, shocking Jondy so much that she had to let go in order to cover her ears, giving the cunning little girl a chance to once again run from the room. Jondy groaned and flopped back against the nearest bed, gesturing for Kyle to come over. "If she's not going to tell me anything, could you at least tell me where Victor is? It would be nice if I knew where some of the older people from my room were."

"He's, uh, got a girlfriend," he replied tentatively. Jondy sat up immediately, her eyes widening. Of course, if Victor couldn't have her, he'd go right after the other nearest available female.

"Oh my God, I figured he might be that stupid, but her? I thought she had more sense!" How ironically the timing of the world worked out, although it wasn't always necessarily a good thing. Victor's heavy footsteps could be heard moving down the hall. Jondy almost didn't feel her feet hit the floor as she shot into the hallway and grabbed him from behind. They both slammed into the wall, but they ended up on the floor with Jondy above him, holding his throat tightly. 

"Not this again!" he choked, twisting to try and get her hands off of his neck. "I guess you didn't quit the steroids, huh?"

"You son of a bitch! She's only twelve years old! I swear to God, if you –"

He cut her off sharply. "Of course I didn't, she's just a kid. Besides, we quickly found out there was plenty of other stuff we could do without actually going all the way." Despite his precarious situation, he couldn't help wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Jondy couldn't help it, she slapped him so hard that she actually heard some of his teeth chip as they clashed together. 

"God dammit!" he yelled, and caught her by surprise as he flipped her over so their positions were reversed and he was on top now. "I don't care if you're a girl or not, you're going to pay for that one!" He missed his chance to hit her as his raised fist was grabbed by one of her stalkers and he was dragged off of her. Another one jabbed a taser into her side, forcing her to curl over in pain. She struck out, but they had arrived so suddenly that she wasn't prepared for such an attack. They quickly forgot about Victor as they were forced to turn all their attention to her. Something was viciously telling Jondy that she was in a very bad situation. It was more than just being reported to her foster father, she felt that there was something else that was going on. She never remembered these men working for the family before, so where had Mr. Casteau found them? She'd never really thought about it before, but right now it seemed to be one of the most important things she'd ever had to figure out. 

All three of her stalkers landed on top of her, struggling to pin her down. One held onto her arms, another was clinging to her feet, and the third was lying across her stomach while pulling something out of his jacket. Jondy's breath caught in her throat as she realized he was holding a syringe. _What are they going to do to me? What in the world is going on here?_ she thought frantically. She turned and bit into the arm of the man by her head, but despite the pain he held on fiercely. She spit the mouthful of blood at the one trying to give her the injection. He only scowled at her and started pulling down the sides of her pants, looking for a good place to give the shot. An extreme weariness followed right after the piercing jab of the needle, but she fought every second to keep her eyes open. 

She could see the shock in Victor's eyes as they started dragging her towards the stairs. Mindy came tearing out of their room and grabbed her hand, tugging desperately. "No! You can't take 'Annah! 'Annah didn't do nothin' wrong!" Jondy felt tears burn in the back of her eyes as one of the men struck Mindy hard across the face, sending her flying back into the wall. For once in his life, Victor stepped forward and put his arms protectively around the little girl, trying to soothe her tears. This was the last thing Jondy ever saw of them again.

It took her awhile to realize that the men were muttering into walkie-talkies. "Yes, sir. We're on our way," one of them whispered, apparently trying to keep her from hearing him. _Fat chance, buddy, _she thought fiercely. But where were they going? It really confused her when they reached the bottom of the stairs and turned towards the middle of the house rather than the front door. Were they just going to lock her up somewhere? It wasn't until they entered the dining room that her heart stopped and seemed to drop into the pit of her stomach. At the table, her foster parents were speaking to someone who rose to his feet the moment she was brought through the door. When his blue eyes landed on her, they seemed to light up with a combination of satisfaction and relief. He hadn't changed much since the day of the escape, although she saw a strange, exhausted glint in his eyes that hadn't been there before. There didn't seem to be any extra gray in his hair, no more wrinkles, no weight gain. _It's like no time has passed,_ she thought with a tired form of wonder. Any feeling of fear had been drowned away by her sheer exhaustion, but she did have enough sense left to recognize the danger she was in. She might not have her own memories much longer, not if he was taking her back to Manticore.

"It's good to see you again, Jondy," Lydecker said softly as he stepped in front of her and her stalkers slid her into a chair. She could only stare up at him blankly, wishing that she could feel something, anything. "I'm finally going to take you home. I must say, Zack's slowing down. You're the first one I've managed to get my hands on since the escape. Don't you have anything to say to that?"

Jondy took a deep breath, willing herself to get a few words out. "Don't be so sure." _Why did I say that? I haven't seen Zack since the escape, why did I give Lydecker the impression that he's here now?_ Nevertheless, it worked like a charm. Lydecker gave a quick signal to his three men, who seemed happy to have something to do other than follow a teenage girl to school. 

Now he kneeled down so he was on her level. "You could save me a lot of trouble and just tell me where he's hiding. It'll be a lot easier on all of us in the long run. Don't you want that? You can't tell me you've been able to use your skills since you came out into the world. Living in this place, probably the best you could do is run up and down the stairs. I've heard a pretty good description of your gym classes, so I guess you haven't really lost any of your strength over time, even without honing your skills. My guess is that you'll become even more powerful after we've reprogrammed you and placed you back into regular training. Pretty soon I'm confident that you'll be one of my best soldiers. It was only the best of you that got away, did you know that? I've been going out of my mind trying to get you all back. I couldn't be happier to be bringing you to Manticore for good."

Jondy looked over at her foster parents, who both seemed a little upset to know that they'd had a genetically engineered girl in their home. Lydecker followed her gaze and smiled with a look of pride flitting across his face. "Are you wondering how they knew about me? Well, they're not part of Manticore, but I knew Charles from when we were in the military together. He knew about my interest in science, and he also vaguely knew about Project Manticore. When you attacked that boy last week, he became suspicious and called for me to send a few men out to see if you were really one of my kids. After your gym class earlier today they were convinced that you were indeed one of the X5s, but it wasn't until I saw you that I knew which one you were. Your eyes are unmistakable."

She felt sick to her stomach, although she wasn't sure if it was because of the situation she was in or if it was a side effect of whatever drug they had given her. Turning her eyes away from the bright light over the kitchen table just behind Lydecker's head and focusing instead on the window on the other side of the room, something caught her eye. Far off in the distance, just by the trees on the edge of the property, someone was hiding in the brush. Zeroing in on the person with her enhanced vision, Jondy realized that it was the new boy from school. That face of his was unforgettable. That was odd, he seemed to be staring straight into her eyes, but there was no way he could see her from that far away. Was there? As if he had heard her thoughts, he turned around and lowered his jacket slightly.

_Oh my God, he has a barcode!_ she realized excitedly. A jolt of pain shot across her forehead as she tried to focus on it harder, trying to read the barcode. _330417291599. How did he know? Zack, what took you so long?_ Suddenly, the strain was too much for her, but it was an immense relief that the last thing she saw before blackness took over was her brother's face.


	3. Not What Was Expected

Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, I own nothing. We all got it by now.

**Family Relations**

By Be Boring

**Chapter 3: Not What Was Expected**

The first thing that Jondy noticed was the horrible aching in her skull. It felt like she'd had a sledgehammer slammed into her head. Her entire body felt heavy, as though all her body parts had been replaced with lead. Even her eyelids were too much for her to handle. She wasn't able to get them to stay open for more than a second, but in that brief period of time she could see a poorly painted pale blue ceiling. _Well, I'm definitely _not_ in the Casteau mansion anymore. Wait, am I with Lydecker? _That snapped her completely awake. In spite of her body's weakness, she sat bolt upright and stared frantically at her surroundings. It looked like she was in some kind of cheap hotel, judging by the peeling wallpaper and the strong scent of mothballs.

Taking a deep breath, she slid her legs over the side of the stiff bed that she had been laying on and gently eased herself up onto her feet. She could only take baby steps, but she determinedly started making her way towards the door. It didn't matter where she went, she had no plans on staying with Lydecker. The other bed in the room had a few guns on it, so not only did she have little doubt that it truly was Lydecker she was with, but she also had some weapons. It felt so unfamiliar when she picked up the piece that appealed the most to her. The cold weight was something that she hadn't felt since she was a child, but right now it was comforting.

The light sound of the doorknob turning caused her to spin around, aiming the gun directly at where she guessed the middle of Lydecker's forehead would be when he stepped through the door, but the shock of who stepped through the door made her drop the gun. Instead of attacking, she ran right to Zack and threw her arms around him. "What took you so long? I've been waiting for you for years!" She had to hold back to keep her voice from shaking, her emotions had hit her much stronger than she'd expected them to. She hadn't seen any of her family since she had seen Max's face under the ice on the day of the escape. The sudden appearance of the only person other than Max that she had loved the most in the world suddenly overwhelmed her.

As if he sensed that she desperately needed comfort and love right now, Zack wrapped his arms around her as well, letting her collapse against him. Without saying a word, he picked her up and laid her back down on her bed and let her cry in his arms. After a few minutes, he whispered, "Don't worry, Lydecker doesn't know where we are. I waited until his men went outside to check the grounds, then I snuck in and carried you out. After you passed out, Lydecker and your foster father took you into the living room so that they could keep talking out of your earshot. I had to get the chains off of you myself, but I managed."

Jondy sighed and curled her legs up against her body, still leaning on him. "I don't care about Lydecker, I'm just so glad not to be alone anymore." He nodded quietly and squeezed her shoulder, which was an affectionate gesture coming from him. They sat in silence for a moment, then a new thought occurred to her. "You're not going to relocate me, are you?"

Something in her voice made him look down at her. "I take it that you don't really want to be set up somewhere and be alone again, huh?"

Even though she could tell that that was what he had been planning to do just by the tone of his voice, she nodded. "Yeah, I'd much rather be with someone right now. If not you, couldn't you at least let me be near someone else? Who else made it out? Where are they?" 

Now he let go of her and slid a few feet back. "I can't let you know that. I guess you'll just have to make due with me for now."

"Does that mean you'll let me stay with your for a while?"

Although he looked apprehensive about this, he nodded. "Yeah, for now I guess. I can't guarantee that it's going to be for very long, but you can go around with me for a bit."

Jondy glanced around. "So we're not staying here? Not that I'm disappointed or anything, but just how much are we going to be moving around?"

"As often as I need to so that I can check on everyone as much as possible." Jondy noticed the definite emphasis on "I". He obviously didn't want her hanging around. That hurt so much more than when she hadn't known where he was or what he was doing. 

Zack looked a little panicked at the glisten of tears in her eyes. "It's not that I don't want you around, it's just that I think it's a lot easier to prevent exposure when I'm the only one who knows where you all are. It's nothing personal, I don't break these rules for anybody."

"I understand," she replied softly, refusing to meet his eyes. This just wasn't what she had expected a reunion with one of her siblings to be like. _Well, he _is_ the C.O. Maybe it would have been different if I had run into one of the others first. Brin would probably welcome me with open arms. Why did Zack have to be the first one I found again? _She brutally forced the thoughts away. Even if it wasn't the meeting she had imagined, she was still grateful to be with him right now.

Zack was obviously trying to come up with a topic for conversation to break the uncomfortable silence. "Were the Casteau's treating you badly? I've managed to check up on you a few times, but it wasn't until I saw Lydecker's men around that I decided to join you in school for a while. After gym, I could tell that we'd be having a problem so I stopped by the house. You were lucky I got there when I did, we had just barely gotten off the property when a military unit came by to pick you up. If I had come fifteen minutes later, you would have already been on your way to Manticore."

She offered him a smile, but she had the feeling that he was just trying to lighten up her feelings towards him. Even though he didn't make as much of a show of his emotions as she did, she could tell that he didn't want her to be angry with him. "Thanks," she whispered, staring down at her feet.

He sat there watching her for a few moments before standing up. "Do you want something to eat? There's a really nice little family restaurant around the corner, I could pick you up some chicken and potatoes. Interested?"

Thinking it over for a moment, she nodded. "Yeah, that actually sounds really good. Do they have any desserts?" She looked up hopefully.

He smiled down at her. "More than you could imagine. How about a cake? I'll get it with tons of frosting if you want."

Now her face brightened. She hadn't had any desserts before, not even a cake. Manticore, school, and the Casteau's weren't big on the sweets, and she'd never been anyplace else. "That sounds great. Try not to go overboard though, I'm not sure how much my stomach can handle." Although he nodded and left the room almost immediately, she saw the concern in his eyes. As soon as he was gone, her weariness returned completely. Her head felt overstuffed with everything. How were the kids doing back at the mansion? How would Jason and Mindy get along without her? Was Victor going to hurt Cassie eventually? The worst thing was that all she could do was wonder, she'd never be able to do anything about it. 

Jondy was still thinking this all over when Zack returned, loaded down with the cake, two covered plates of chicken, two containers of mashed potatoes, and two cups of gravy, as well as a couple sodas shoved into his pockets. She immediately jumped to her feet and grabbed the potatoes and gravy to give him a chance to set everything else down. "Geez, how big do you think my appetite is?" she joked feebly, overwhelmed by the food in front of her. She'd never even looked at a meal before that appeared so delicious.

"If it's anything like the others, then you're a bottomless pit. Do you think this will work for now?"

She just looked at him in shock. "Will it work? This looks like some sort of feast! Do you eat like this all the time?"

Not seeming to know what to do about her reaction to the food, he mumbled with some embarrassment, "Well, most of the time I just end up getting fast food, but if there's a restaurant like the one here then sometimes I eat a little better. Didn't they feed you well at your foster home?"

She shrugged as she picked up a chicken leg and tried to keep from devouring it in one gulp. "Their food wasn't bad, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't what they were having for supper every night. Then they sometimes forgot to feed us, or made us skip meals because we did something they didn't like. I wish I could take this food back to the kids that are still there. Some of those kids, especially the younger ones, probably aren't even sure what chicken and mashed potatoes with gravy are, much less ever had a soda."

Rather than act uncomfortable at the mention of the other kids she had lived with, which she would have suspected he would do, he just sat down next to her and picked up a wing. "I take it you were close to those kids?"

"Yeah, I loved them so much. I think we had to become close to make it through where we were living. At first glance, even with our isolation up on the second floor, most people wouldn't say we had it that bad, but that's not how we felt about it. When you came down to it, we were just a bunch of kids that had to make it without any adults, without any control over what we had to eat or any medication anybody might need, and we had to live so crammed together that we hardly had room to breath. There were two older teenagers, a middle child, and two little kids in each room except for one, and we all just had to take care of each other. There was a little boy in my room who got sick so much that I can't believe he's still alive. He got pneumonia every winter, and it took forever to convince Mrs. Casteau to let us take him to the hospital. Then they'd take away our supper for a few weeks, telling us we had to make up for the hospital bill. The other teenager in my room, Victor, was always sneaking out and sleeping around, and just before Lydecker got me I found out that he was taking advantage of Cassie, the middle child in our room. It just felt like our tiny little world was collapsing in on us. I'm not sure if I'd say it was worse than Manticore, because were allowed to love each other and show emotion, but at least we were taken care of back at Manticore. I always thought the outside would be so much better, but it's just bad in a whole different way. Is anyone else having that kind of problem?"

Zack sat silently for moment, and she suspected that he was trying to figure out a way to tell her the truth without telling more information than he wanted her to know. "Yeah, I've had to get a couple of them out of similar situations. There have been some physically abusive places, as well as neglectful ones. I guess I just thought you had it pretty good where you were, so I didn't want to interfere until I absolutely had to. Now I wish I had showed up years ago."

"Don't worry about it. I'm still going, aren't I?" She swallowed a large mouthful of mashed potatoes and gravy, then a new thought occurred to her. "Do all our other escaped siblings know that you're watching over them, or are there a couple of them that are doing okay so you're not interfering, just like you'd been doing with me?"

He sighed, almost as if in regret. "There's a couple who don't know about me, but most of them do. In fact, I see some of them much more than I want to."

"Troublemakers?"

He smiled slightly. "Yeah, some did grow up to be handfuls. I think my life would be a lot easier if I wasn't the one in charge of them, but I can't give it up. I don't know, maybe it's in my nature because I'm the oldest and I was made the C.O., but I just can't fathom leaving any of you alone and living my own life. I just can't do it. Honestly, I don't know what I'd do with myself. How would I pass the time? What kind of job would I end up getting? Right now I just steal whenever I get the chance because every now and then I have to take care of someone's financial situation. I'm pretty sure that if I was only taking care of myself, I wouldn't be doing that so much."

Jondy studied his momentarily nostalgic face and smiled. "Are you saying you'd be lost without us?" she teased. 

He rolled his eyes. "Don't get ahead of yourself, I'm just saying it would take some getting used to. How special do you think you are?"

At first those words stung, but then she saw the look in his eyes that showed he was just joking. She gulped down the last of her soda and grinned playfully. "Well, I don't know about the others, but I think I should be extra special to you."

He feigned a look of scorn and crossed his arms. "Oh really? What makes you so special?"

She pouted at him. "Don't you think I'm irresistibly cute?"

"Answering a question with another question isn't fair."

"Just answer it," she insisted, grinning with the relief that he had loosened up a bit. Now he seemed so much more brotherly.

He leaned back against the wall at the head of the bed, pretending to seriously think about it. "Well, I _suppose_ you're kind of cute, but not cute enough for special treatment."

"Am I your cutest sister?" She threw the pillow at him for emphasis.

At that he finally laughed. "You're the weirdest one, that's for sure. Nobody else would dare ask me if they were cute or not. Maybe you're fearless or something." The word "fearless" was given a touch a sarcasm, but he wasn't trying to use it cruelly, just as a joke.

"Who knows? Maybe cuteness and fearlessness are somehow connected."

"You're hopeless." 

Before she could retort, a ringing sound came from his pocket. He reached in and pulled out a cell phone. "Hello? … What happened? … Ok, hold on. I'll be right there." He turned to her, the playful look now replaced by a very grave expression. "Will you be alright here for a couple of days? I'll leave some money so you can get food, and I'll call to check in on you every day. Will you be okay?"

His seriousness was starting to scare her. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Who was that? Who's in trouble?"

"I can't tell you," he said quickly, shoving the few clothes of his that were out into his duffel bag. "I just know this is going to keep me busy for a while. Even after I get back to you, I'll have to keep checking in on him." He froze, suddenly realizing he'd made a mistake.

"Him? Who is it, Zack? Why won't you tell me? Maybe I can help somehow."

"If I haven't been able to help him, how could you?"

She felt tears of frustration burning in the back of her eyes. "I don't know, but I at least would like a chance. What's going on with him, whoever he is?"

Rather than replying, Zack threw a wad of money in her direction and headed for the door. "I'll call you later to check up on you. Take care of yourself." With that, he was out the door.

Jondy sat without moving for several minutes, in shock that he could leave her so quickly without letting her know what was happening. "God dammit, Zack!" she shouted, standing up and kicking the bed so hard that it flipped over and the mattress gave one full roll before it flopped down. She groaned and grabbed the bed frame to pull it back into position, then walked over to the mattress and picked it up. After a moment, she realized that she had also knocked over the bed stand. As she set it back up, she noticed a notepad on the floor. It was the same kind that waitresses used to take orders, so she guessed he had stolen it from a restaurant. _What would he need that for?_ She sat down and looked at the blank top piece of paper, trying to understand. "I'm being ridiculous," she muttered out loud. "This was probably left by a different guest, Zack wouldn't need this kind of thing anyways."

Just as she was about to set it down, she realized there were some indentations on the top piece. She grinned as she realized that they'd been made from when the paper that had been above this piece had been written on. She squinted as she tried to see what the numbers had been. Most of them were easy enough to make out, but a couple had obviously been written very lightly so there wasn't much indentation left over. After a couple minutes, she was pretty sure that the numbers were (858) 436-2979. She grabbed the phone quickly and dialed the number, hoping this really was Zack's paper.

The phone rang three times before there was an answer. "Hello?" It was a feminine voice that answered the phone. Jondy thought for a moment, struggling to place the voice. Finally, she just decided to be more direct.

"Zack went after someone. They're in trouble, do you know anything about it?" She figured it was a safe enough thing to say. If it wasn't an X5, they'd either hang up on her or ask who Zack was. If it was an X5, maybe she would get somewhere.

"Who is this? What's wrong with Zack?" Now the voice sounded nervous, but also suspicious. Jondy was starting to get excited, she was pretty sure it was another X5 that she was talking to.

"It's Jondy."

There was a pause, then suddenly a squeal of delight. "Jondy?! Oh my God, I didn't think Zack had contacted you!"

"Just out of curiosity, who is this? I wasn't quite sure whose number I called."

"This is Tinga. How are you? I didn't even know you'd made it! Oh, and what's going on with Zack?"

"I'm okay, but Zack just left to go help one of the others. He keeps referring to them as 'him', but I don't know which one of us it is. Do you know?"

"Uh-oh, Ben's not still… Wait, how much do you know about this whole situation?"

Ben? Jondy didn't understand, why would something be wrong with Ben? And what was he still doing? _I seem to have missed out on a lot._ She decided to try lying to Tina, even though she wasn't sure she'd be able to pull it off convincingly. "Yeah, I know what's been going on, I just didn't know which one of our brothers was doing it. I thought he'd stopped?"

It must have worked, because Tinga continued on. "Yeah, so did I, but I guess he's just gone crazy. I never thought that would happen to our sweet Ben, but he always was a little eccentric when it came to the Blue Lady."

Jondy didn't quite know how to continue lying, so she changed the direction of the conversation slightly. "How did you find out? I was under the impression that Zack didn't want anyone to know."

"I found out by accident when Ben attacked someone from my area. At Zack's request he left, but not before asking me to join him. I guess he didn't forget that day at all. I haven't really either, but it's never driven me to repeat it. I wonder how many victims he's had by now? Maybe it was just wishful thinking on my part, but I always thought that if anyone could get through to him and make him stop killing, it would be Zack. It might just be out of his hands now, though."

Jondy was speechless. Ben was killing people? She knew the day that Tinga was talking about, how could anyone ever forget? They had become animals for a short time, and it had somehow burned a hole through her in some unseen way. She felt sick just thinking about how easily it was for her to become a danger to everyone around her. Forcing herself to not allow Tinga to get suspicious, she asked, "Let's talk about something else, this just makes me feel depressed. How are you?"

"Oh, I'm fine. Did you know I'm married? Charlie's a wonderful man, I know you'd like him. Zack doesn't like him very much, but I don't think he considers anyone good enough for any of us. Then there's our son, Case. He's only a year old, but he's so wonderful."

Jondy smiled at the thought of Tinga in the family life. Amazingly enough, she could picture it easily. "How old were you when you got married? You can't be older than eighteen right now."

"Well, I was sixteen, but Charlie thinks I'm older. He's a few years older than me, but I love him so much. I don't think things could be any better. Hey, you're probably sixteen right now, aren't you?"

"Yeah, at least I'm somewhere around there. No plans to get married though. So, you're happy?"

"You have no idea. I think it's just the kind of life that Zack always wanted for us, which is kind of sad because he's not giving himself the chance to have that kind of life. Then he gets mad at me for having it. I don't think it's that he resents me being happy, but he is a bit jealous. I don't think he's even had a girlfriend in all the times he's been out. Poor guy just needs to get laid." She laughed when Jondy gave a grunt of disgust. "Sorry, I forgot, you're still a kid. You're probably still a virgin, aren't you?"

Jondy blushed so deeply that she was sure Tinga could feel it through the phone. "I don't see how that's any of your business, but yeah, I am."

Tinga laughed again. "Sorry to embarrass you so much, I guess I'm just a protective big sister. Even though I have to say that I can't believe you've managed to stay a virgin, even through your…" Suddenly she trailed off as a shout was heard in the background. "I hate to do this, but I have to go. Call me again soon, okay? I take it that Zack doesn't know you have my number?"

"No, I didn't find it until after he left. Trust me, I'll be calling again. I've missed you all so much."

"I missed you too. Love you, little sister."

"Love you too. Bye." Jondy sighed as she hung up the phone, not sure if she should feel happy, sad, or worried. She was happy because she had finally talked to Tinga again, sad because something was seriously wrong with Ben, and worried about what Tinga had been cut off from saying. What had she meant when she'd said that she was surprised that Jondy had managed to stay a virgin even through something? What was that "something" that she hadn't gotten the chance to say? After all these years, she would have thought that reuniting with her family would be the most wonderful thing in the world, but now she was starting to think her life was less complicated in the Casteau mansion. She looked sadly at the uneaten cake. Odd, and to think that just twenty minutes ago the prospect of having a cake was important.


	4. Partnership

Disclaimer: If I owned Dark Angel, you could be damn sure it wouldn't be canceled right now.

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Family Relations

By Be Boring

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Chapter 4: Partnership

Jondy ended up waiting for over a week before Zack returned. In the meantime, she spent nearly every day talking to Tinga over the phone and sneaking to the family restaurant that Zack had gotten their last meal from. Still, she couldn't help being worried about him every time Tinga's words came back to her. _"Maybe it was just wishful thinking on my part, but I always thought that if anyone could get through to him and make him stop killing, it would be Zack. It might just be out of his hands now, though." _Did she mean that Ben could be dangerous to Zack? That didn't seem possible, especially not with her memories of the sweet, creative child from Manticore, and it was even more farfetched to think that he would attack the one person who was protecting him from that horrible place. Now she only hoped that Zack came back in one piece.

At the precise moment that he came through the door, she was flopped out on the bed with what was practically a feast surrounding her. She hadn't really been eating like that every day, but she felt the strange need to splurge today. It actually took a few minutes for her to realize he was standing in the doorway, he had been so silent when he opened the door that she hadn't even noticed. He was watching her with a smile on his face, but the haggard look about him immediately set off warning bells. She sat up quickly and cleared off a spot so he could sit down.

"What happened?"

After a moment of hesitation, Zack replied, "I've cut someone off. I didn't want to, it wasn't supposed to be anything but a last resort, but I had no choice. It's become too much, I can't be held responsible for anything that happens to him anymore." 

Jondy wasn't sure what to say, but she could see from the look on his face that this was killing him, so she resisted asking him any questions. Had Ben gotten worse? What had he done that was so much worse than the other times? Suddenly, she felt a desperate urge to call Tinga to discuss everything. She knew perfectly well that she wouldn't get anything out of Zack. "What did he do?"

It was almost as if he sensed that she knew more than she was letting on, because he turned to face her more directly and looked so deeply into her eyes that she could have sworn she was wearing a sign that said BIG FAT LIAR. "You know I can't tell you. Even though he's cut off, I still don't want to risk anything."

She rolled her eyes. "Zack! Do you honestly think I would expose whoever it is? He's family!"

"It's not about what you would do intentionally, it's about what you might accidentally let slip. You have no idea how many times it's happened before. I try to protect you all the best I can, but it's hard to save you all from yourselves."

Jondy could tell he was referring to Ben, but she didn't let on that she knew. "Maybe if you trusted us more, we'd surprise you. Perhaps whichever brother this is will change once he realizes that you're no longer looking out for him."

The heaviness in Zack's shoulders showed how optimistic he was about that. "It's a nice thought, but I don't see it happening. You have no idea how badly things have become screwed up. It feels like I hardly know any of you anymore. I'm not even sure I know you."

She shot him a deeply wounded look, wishing he wouldn't sound so glum. "That's ridiculous, you know me perfectly well."

"How can you say that? We haven't even seen each other for seven years. You've been through a lot since the escape, just as I have, and by now we're completely different people."

Moving from the bed to sit on the other one, she crossed her arms and glared at him. "I'll say. You've become so much more negative. I'm not saying you were a cup of cheer in the past, but you didn't have this kind of outlook. What changed that?"

"It's none of your business," he growled with such ferocity that she actually leaned backwards slightly. Almost immediately he softened, looking surprised at himself. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap, but it's just not something I want to talk about."

Now he had her curiosity peaked, but she knew better than to try and push him. What would it really accomplish? "Well, uh, do you want anything to eat?" She gestured towards all the food, which was still surrounding him. He glanced around and smiled. 

"Not really, but we can't exactly let all this go to waste now, can we?" 

There wasn't much conversation as they ate, but it was a comfortable silence. Jondy was getting the distinct impression that he was relieved to not be alone. He was only putting on a brave face because she was here, but she knew that leaving Ben to fend for himself was killing him inside. _What did Ben do that was so horrible? I don't see how anything he could have done could be worse than killing people in cold blood. _She was desperate to call Tinga and talk to her about it, but how would she do it without Zack finding out? She was waiting on pins and needles for him to fall asleep later, which actually didn't take that long once he had laid down. To make sure he was actually asleep, Jondy sat around for at least twenty more minutes after she thought he was out, then slid out into the hallway. After listening closely through a few doors, she finally found a room that she decided was empty and pulled out a paper clip to push into the lock. It took her a little bit since she hadn't picked a lock for years, but she finally managed to turn the knob and walk into the room. The room was absolutely identical to hers and Zack's, so she headed straight for the phone.

Tinga didn't even get halfway through saying 'hello' before Jondy cut in. "Tinga, it's Jondy. Zack just got back."

"Really? So, do you know what happened?"

"All I know is that he cut Ben off, he's not going to be helping him anymore. What do you think Ben could have done that's worse than what he's already been doing?"

There was silence on the other end of the line for a few moments, then Tinga warily replied, "Well, I do know that most of the people he's killed have been older, usually people who have been members of a church for many years. I guess he's doing it based on the amount of faith they have and seeing if the Blue Lady will protect them. What if he changed tactics?"

Jondy was horrified at the thought. "You mean you think he's killing younger targets? God, what if he killed a child? Then I could see why Zack would give up on him."

"I hate to say it, but that's my guess. Even if he won't admit it, Zack really likes kids. He'd drop Ben like a hot rock if he killed a child. I think that would be the point where even I would decide that Ben is beyond help. I don't think anything we could do would change him. Something's seriously wrong with him, and he's become too set in his ways."

This was certainly not something that Jondy had expected to come from Tinga's mouth. Tinga was one of the most positive X5s out there, so if even she had given up, then Jondy couldn't help but feel that there was no hope. No wonder Zack looked so awful. "Don't you get the feeling like in some ways we would have been better off in Manticore?"

Suddenly, Tinga's voice became much harder. "No! I've never thought that, not even once. I'll admit that maybe Ben shouldn't have left, but as far as I know, the rest of us are perfectly happy out here. Could you imagine not having a choice in anything about your life anymore? That used to be normal for us, you probably haven't even noticed how much you've become adjusted to free will now that you're out. Then, I have to think about what would have happened if I'd given birth to Case there. My own son would be placed in a lab for testing! I couldn't take that, I love my little boy too much. Don't you see how much better off we are out here? It may not be perfect, but at least we're free."

Jondy couldn't believe that Tinga had spoken so harshly to her. That wasn't much like her either. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. I guess I'm just a little stressed out about everything that's been going on. I don't suppose you have any good news to give me?"

"Actually, you might be interested to know that Syl came through here yesterday. I know the number of the hotel she's staying at and what her alias is. Do you want to give her a call?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Jondy cried excitedly.

"Ok, ok, just thought I'd make sure," Tinga laughed. A few minutes later, Jondy was thanking her profusely and hanging up to dial Syl's number.

"Hello?" came a voice that had changed so much since their childhood, but was still recognizable.

"Syl? Is that you?"

Syl's voice became more cautious. "Who is this?"

"It's Jondy."

Suddenly, there was a squeal of excitement and Syl was practically yelling in her ear. "Oh my God, how are you? How did you get my number? I know Zack doesn't know it yet, only Tinga. How long have you been talking to her? How long ago did Zack finally contact you? I know he's been holding off because he didn't think you needed him yet. What happened to make him come for you?"

Jondy laughed and held the phone a short distance from her ear to give it a break. "Ok, one thing at a time. First, I'm fine. I've been talking to Tinga for about a week and yes, she gave me your number. Zack also contacted me about a week ago, even though for a day I didn't even know who he was. He ended up letting me know who he was because he had to get me out so Lydecker wouldn't catch me. It's all still good, though, we're both fine even though now Lydecker knows what I look like. How have you been?"

"I can't complain. I can pass for eighteen now, so I can do a lot more. The best thing is being able to live alone instead of with a foster family. I've had quite a few of those, let me tell you. I just never really fit in anywhere. I really love being on my own. The only time I'm not is when Zack checks in on me, and, uh, you know, _those_ times."

Jondy felt incredibly stupid all of a sudden. What was she talking about, _those_ times? Not wanting to appear as naïve as she felt, she replied, "Yeah. So, you're doing good?"

"Oh yeah. The best part is that now I'm heading to a full time job I got in North Dakota. I'll be managing an entire restaurant! I've always liked cooking, and I worked as one of the chefs in this beautiful place in Pennsylvania, but my boss liked me so much that he sent me to run the new restaurant he's opening! He's got a few, and they're all doing great. I'm really honored that he trusted me with this. My only problem is that Zack doesn't know yet. I'm not sure how he'll take it, usually he's the one who decides whether I move or not, but I'm hoping he'll let me. This is really important to me!"

Smiling, Jondy glanced at the door. She still hadn't heard any movement in the hallway, but she couldn't help but worry about Zack finding out what she was doing. How would he react if he knew that she had already contacted two of her sisters? Strangely enough, her excitement didn't want to allow her to stop there. She wanted to talk to as many of them as possible, and Zack was her ticket to them. _What am I thinking? I couldn't possibly use Zack that way._ Still, the thought was extremely tempting. "Well, I wouldn't approach him with the idea at this time. I think he's feeling particularly protective right now. I don't know all of the details, but he's still getting over something that happened with Ben. Maybe wait until you actually start working there."

"Ok. Is Zack alright?"

"I think so, for now. He just needs to relax and get his mind on something else, preferably something positive."

"Well, if you want I can give you my number where I'll be living, and then you can let me know when you think it's okay to bring it up to Zack." Then, she laughed and added, "You were probably going to ask me for the number anyway, right?"

Jondy chuckled with her. "Yeah, I was planning on it. Well, I should probably get off now. Zack doesn't know I'm talking to you, and I don't plan on him finding out. I'm definitely talking to you later."

After some quick good-byes, she hung up the phone and snuck back into her own hotel room. Her big brother was still sound asleep in his bed, so she simply crawled into hers. Even if she didn't sleep much, she liked to lie in bed. At least then she was comfortable.

~~~~~

What was that squeaking noise? Jondy sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes. She hadn't even realized that she'd fallen asleep. Maybe it was the fact that Zack was back, but she felt refreshed now. That's when she turned her head and saw Zack on his bed. _Oh my God, how long has he been seizing?_ she thought frantically. She dived for the duffel bag on the floor and started digging through it. It seemed to take forever for her fingers to finally grasp the bottle of tryptophan at the bottom of the bag, but at least it was full. She scrambled up onto the bed next to him and pulled him into a sitting position, then placed a few of the pills in his mouth and started moving her fingers around his throat to get him to swallow. After he finally swallowed, she gave him a few more, continuing until she had given him around fifteen pills. It still wasn't until about ten minutes later, however, that she felt the seizures had slowed enough for her to leave and get some milk. She was only gone a couple minutes, but she couldn't help worrying about him the entire time. _I never sleep that deeply. Why didn't I wake up when the seizures started? Wait, why didn't he wake me up? He would have had enough control in the beginning to at least get my attention._ The questions wouldn't leave her, especially when only one answer came to mind that she didn't want to have to think about. They all knew that if they didn't take care of the seizures as soon as possible, they could go into a coma and die. Zack didn't want to kill himself, did he?

Just the thought of it all made her rush back to the hotel room as soon as she had a large jug of milk in her hands. He was still shaking viciously when she returned to the room, but he was well enough aware of his surroundings to drink some of the milk that she offered to him. Since there were no cups, he had to drink directly from the jug, which she had to help him with because of his weakness. She couldn't believe how horrible he looked. His entire body was soaked in sweat, to the point where it was practically dripping off his chin, fingertips, and hair. Occasionally he had to grab his sheet roughly and wipe the sweat from his eyes, but he didn't make any attempt to clear the rest away. Once again Jondy had to wonder how long he had been seizing before she woke up. 

"Zack?" she inquired finally. "Why didn't you wake me up when this started? It never would have gotten this far."

He looked at her blankly, even though she knew that he had heard her perfectly. It had never struck her before how young he still was, but right now he looked like a little boy that had no idea what to do. She sighed, knowing that he wouldn't answer her right now. This conversation would have to be saved for later. "Okay, Zack, we have to get you into a hot bath before all this sweat makes you catch cold or something. Do you think you can make it into the bathroom?"

He slowly shook his head and lowered himself back to lie against his pillow again. "There might not be hot water," he whispered, apparently struggling to keep his eyes open. "There would be no point then."

"Then I'll check," she replied quietly, feeling tears well up behind her eyes, burning as they threatened to burst out. She never would have dreamed he'd be so upset about cutting Ben off. Forcing her own musings out of her mind, she turned the knob in the bathtub over to the red zone. After a few minutes, the water grudgingly became warm, then hot. She smiled and flipped up the switch to close the drain, then turned and went back to Zack. "There's hot water, so I'm not taking any excuses. You're getting into that tub, whether you like it or not. I'll strip you myself if I have to."

He studied her silently, then nodded. "Okay, but I'm going to need help walking to the bathroom."

"That's fine," she said with relief, thankful that he was going to let her help him. She pulled his right arm around her shoulders and gripped his waist with her left arm, then slowly eased him into a standing position. He was fighting to keep his legs from buckling under himself, so she immediately started moving him towards the bathroom. By the time they reached it, she had to set him on the edge of the tub so she could reach in and turn the water to just above lukewarm so the temperature in the water would even out comfortably. When it was just above three-quarters full, she turned the water off and turned to Zack. "Do you need me for anything else?"

"Just the shirt, I can do the rest myself," he murmured, almost as if he was talking to himself. She stepped forward and carefully pulled his shirt over his head, then left the room and listened just outside the door. When she finally heard him getting into the water, she went to his bag and dumped a couple pills into her hand to take them herself and took a deep drink of the milk. She had been feeling the beginnings of a seizure as she was helping him, and she knew it was due to nerves. That was probably what had started Zack's seizures.

Although she knew that the water must have become cool by then, Zack didn't come out of the bathroom for an hour. He came out with a towel wrapped around his waist, slowly making his way to his duffel bag and pulling out some fresh clothes. Jondy was relieved to see that at least he was moving more quickly than before. Seizures were probably the one thing that put an X5 at his or her weakest point, because they drained every last ounce of energy, both mentally and physically, until you felt like an empty shell. Jondy could only watch him with pity, understanding how miserable he must be feeling. On top of the pain he already was feeling about Ben, now he was too weak to take care of himself properly. She knew he would be embarrassed later that he'd needed to depend on her to take care of him.

"Are you feeling any better?" she asked after he once again came out of the bathroom, this time fully clothed.

He hesitated, then nodded and sat down. "I feel a bit stronger."

"I wasn't just talking about physically."

He glanced at her face and smiled with some amusement. "You haven't changed much. Nothing really gets past you. For your information, I'm doing fine. I'm just a little embarrassed."

"What for? If you're talking about needing me to help you earlier, you don't have to be embarrassed about it. You'd have done the same for me."

"That's different."

"How?"

He rolled his eyes as though the answer should be obvious to her. "I'm the C.O., it's in the job description for me to take care of you all."

"Then consider what I did to be a way of repaying a debt."

That blank look returned to his eyes, filling her with apprehension. "You don't owe me anything. I wasn't doing a very good job of taking care of you. In fact, I haven't been doing a very good job with anybody. I just wish…"

"What? You wish what?"

"I, well, I guess I wish I wasn't doing this all alone. I wish Eva was here."

At this, they both fell silent. Jondy had almost forgotten how close Zack and Eva had been. Technically, back then Eva had been the C.O., but everybody had felt closer to Zack. It had been her idea to escape, but it was Zack who ended up enforcing it. After her death, he even continued taking care of them. Now, Jondy considered that perhaps the only reason he was taking care of them was because of a sense of obligation he had, not to them, but to Eva. 

"You've done a wonderful job so far, Zack. Eva could never have asked for better."

That nearly brought tears to his eyes, but he shook them away. "That's not true. She was always better at figuring out what to do. It just came naturally to her. I was just the big brother. She was the real leader."

"I don't think she would have anything bad to say about everything you've done. A lot of stuff has happened that is just beyond your control. It would have been no different for her. There's only so much one person can do, and you've done wonderfully for all the responsibility that has been forced onto your shoulders. True, it probably would have been easier if Eva was here with you, because you'd both be able to handle separate situations rather than just you running all over the country, but we can't help the way things went. Why don't you just ask someone trustworthy for help, someone you feel is capable of handling all the responsibility? Tinga would be a good help, or maybe Cade, since he was always so mature. I don't know, you're much more familiar with them than I am right now. Is there anyone you'd feel comfortable asking for help?"

Zack merely stared at her for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah. I could ask you for help."

Jondy was completely caught off guard that he'd be willing to ask _anyone_ for help, much less _her_. "Wait, Zack, are you sure you're thinking clearly? Other than Max, I'm the youngest out of everyone. Why would you grant me authority over my older siblings?"

"Because you're a natural when it comes to what's best for someone. Look at how you handled me just a little while ago; I certainly wouldn't have been so sure of what to do if the situation had been reversed. You're a lot more levelheaded than I am. You also have that sisterly love that they'd all appreciate."

"I thought you weren't such a big fan of emotions."

"I'm not, but they are. They'd probably be much easier to handle if I had you helping me to convince them. Besides, I think I can trust you."

A tear slid down her cheek, she was so touched that he felt that strongly about her capabilities, but she also felt guilty. "Zack, I'm not sure you can trust me as much as you think you can. I've already talked to Tinga and Syl behind your back, and I've encouraged Syl to hold off telling you something that I know you'd want to hear about immediately. How can you say that you can trust me?"

To her surprise, he laughed. "You just told me now, didn't you? Besides, I already knew about that. I deliberately left behind that notepad so you'd find the imprint of Tinga's number, and I asked her to tell you about Ben. Syl is more of a surprise, but I had known about that job she was getting even though she wasn't aware of it. That's actually the kind of thing I'd want you to do. When it comes to flat out protection, I know they'll call me, but when it comes to some other change in their life, they'd probably be more comfortable talking to someone like you. Anything you're not sure about, you can come to me to talk about, and vice versa. What do you think?"

Jondy's whole face flushed a deep red, but she wasn't sure if it was because she was pleased by his decision or if it was because she was embarrassed by how much faith he had in her. It was probably a combination of the two. "I'd love that, Zack, but I'd feel horrible if I made a bad decision and put someone in danger."

"That's why I said if there's any decision you're not comfortable making, you come talk to me. I can set you up with your own contact number so that everyone can feel more secure with getting in touch with you, and I guess for a while you'll just hang around with me until you decide you want to go off on your own. It might be best to keep you with me, since I don't want you living with a foster family while you have these kinds of responsibilities, and any cops will send you to one since you're not eighteen yet."

Jondy suddenly broke out in a huge grin. "So that means I'll be living with you for two years?"

His eyes widened. "Shit, that's right, you're only sixteen." He suddenly looked as though he wasn't sure about taking her on for two years, but at the pleading look she shot him, he finally rolled his eyes and gave in. "Fine, you get to live with me for two years. Amazing, and I thought I'd be lonely forever. Now I'm going to be taking care of a teenage girl 24/7. I sure hope you're worth it," he teased.

To his surprise, she ran to him and threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!" she cried excitedly. "I swear I'll do a good job, and I'll try not to get in your way."

He laughed. "Jondy, you could never be in my way. Now, let's get you a list of everybody's phone numbers."

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Author's Note: Please review. (I would say "read and review," but I'm assuming if you're reading this now, that you've read it already. :P )


	5. Uncomfortable Developments

Author's Note: **Rose**, Syl was referring to the X5 heat cycles when she said "those times." Because of her surroundings growing up, Jondy's body hasn't really completed puberty and she hasn't had a heat cycle yet, and because she hasn't been around any of the others, she doesn't even know that she will have them. I only lightly touched on this in the first chapter. Syl assumed that Jondy had already been through heat cycles because of her age so she thought that Jondy would understand when she said "those times", but poor Jondy is clueless. Some of Jondy's problems will be dealt with in this chapter. Hope that helped. J 

Disclaimer: I don't own a thing.

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Family Relations

By Be Boring

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Chapter 5: Uncomfortable Developments

The last few weeks had been the best times of Jondy's life. After Zack had set her up with a contact number and passed it out to the other X5s he was in contact with, she slowly received congratulatory messages from all of them. Zack, however, warned her not to call them back right away and start having hour-long conversations with each of them every day. She simply rolled her eyes when his back was turned and peeked at the list of addresses. She would have to start visiting them if Zack was going to be a pain in the ass, just to piss him off. Her eyes landed on a name halfway down the list that made her brighten up immediately: Brin. At her relentless pestering, Zack finally agreed to take her to Austin, Texas to visit her big sister. A couple days later, they were in Tinga's house, making by far one of the best meals of Jondy's life and playing with Case, who she immediately thought was the cutest little boy she'd ever seen. Then on to Syl, Zane, Krit, Kiera, and Cade, each of whom greeted her with open arms. Slowly but surely she was learning how to make her way around Zack's defenses and persuade him to do pretty much anything. 

Jondy lay on her bed, half-smiling up at the ceiling as she thought of each visit and how it had been to see each of their faces again for the first time in years. They all looked so different, yet she would have been able to pick them out of a crowd any day. Zane's smile still stretched from ear to ear, showing two perfect rows of teeth that were almost blinding. Syl still had that happiness that rarely ever left her, Krit still did everything he could to defy Zack's authority, Cade was as mature as ever, and Kiera still had those nearly black eyes that continued to give Jondy the creeps, except for when she smiled, which was when they lit up and changed her entire demeanor. She was already so happy now, and there was still two left to see: Blake and Shayna. The other two were cut off, a situation that Jondy hoped would be turned around in the near future. She especially wanted to see Max, whom she hadn't even known was alive until Zack told her. She could hold off on Ben, though.

Finally, she knew there was no way she'd be able to get any more sleep, so she grabbed her bag off the floor and made her way to the bathroom, trying not to wake Zack as she went. She was sure he had cracked an eye open, but he didn't make any other movements so she went on as if she hadn't noticed. The moment the door was shut she pulled off her nightshirt, which desperately needed to be washed. Suddenly, she winced and threw the shirt aside. Had there been something rough inside the cloth? The skin just below her armpits ached, although it didn't appear to have been rubbed in any way. She turned and looked into the mirror, but she couldn't see anything wrong with the skin. Prodding it gently still sent sharp needles of pain rushing around the area, so she pulled out a bra from her bag with some hesitation. _This isn't going to be fun,_ she thought with a sigh of resignation. These pains had been growing worse over the last week, but they'd never been this strong. 

She was so tiny that she really didn't need a bra, but she felt so strange without one that she started to put it on despite the aching that plagued her. It wasn't until she had fastened it that she realized something was different. Stepping back to look at herself better in the mirror, a new realization hit her that made her mouth drop open. _Aren't I too old to still be growing? I haven't grown an inch since I was thirteen._ Well, whether she was too old or not didn't really matter, her own eyes were telling her that her chest was bigger. Not a lot, but it was bigger nevertheless. It made sense that her skin was sensitive right now; she was having growing pains. This was happening fast, too, there was already a visible difference from a week ago. Not sure what to make of this new situation, she quickly finished getting dressed and slipped out of the hotel room. She just hoped that Zack didn't decide to follow her, she couldn't imagine having a conversation with him about her breasts. The idea was simply laughable. 

__

Ok, who's the closest to my age? She sat quietly and pondered it for a moment. Shayna was actually closer to her age, but seeing as how Jondy actually hadn't gotten the chance to have a conversation with her yet other than basic greetings and congratulations, she didn't want this to be their first topic of discussion. _Kiera, she's not that much older than I am. Besides, she's the one doing all the research on the special things that go on in our bodies as opposed to everyone else's._ Without giving it another thought, she hurried to the nearest empty room, pulled out her cell phone, and dialed her number.

"Yo," was the greeting she received upon hearing her sister pick up the phone. _Butch as ever,_ she thought with a smile.

"Hey, it's me," she replied. She knew perfectly well that Kiera would recognize her voice. "I have this kind of weird thing going on, and I think you're the only one young enough to talk to about this."

"Ok, shoot. I'm listening."

"Well, I think I've, um, started _growing_ again."

"As in puberty growing? Curves and all that?"

"Yeah, I think so, especially my chest. Is it really normal for me to still be growing at sixteen? I thought all that stuff should have been done at about thirteen, especially with how fast we're supposed to grow."

"Yeah, we were programmed to finish growing earlier than other people, but I suppose if something happened to stunt your growth, then maybe it just started up again now."

"But I thought once your growth was stunted, it just kind of stayed that way?"

"For other people, yes, but not for us. If it's in our genetic code to reach, oh, we'll say 5'5", then by God we're going to reach it. Same thing goes for everything else. You said that foster family didn't feed you so well, so your body realized that it didn't have enough nutrients to keep growing and focused on simply maintaining what it had. Now that you're away from there, and I'm sure Zack's feeding you everything you need whether you like it or not, your body's picking up where it left off. I expect you'll look your age within a few months, seeing as how your body will probably be working overtime to make up for lost time. It might be in your best interest to sneak off and buy some bigger clothes that you'll be needing pretty soon. I doubt Zack will want to go bra shopping with you." They both laughed. Jondy at least felt a little better about this. She just hated the feeling that her body was doing something it wasn't supposed to, but if Kiera was right, then this was just some delayed growing that had been stopped by her lifestyle with the Casteau's. Now she just felt embarrassed about calling Kiera about something so trivial.

As if she sensed her sister's embarrassment, Kiera said, "I'm glad you called me, and it's not just because I know Zack would freeze if you tried to ask him anything about this stuff. I'm a little worried about Shayna. She's been feeling kind of funny lately."

"I didn't know you had her number."

Kiera chuckled. "Neither does Zack, so let's just keep this between you and me. Anyway, she's been really having some bad stomach cramps, and she's always sick. If you so much as show her a sandwich, she runs for the bathroom."

"How did you find that out if you only talk to her over the phone? Shayna always had a lot of pride, I don't think she would just complain to you about not feeling well."

There was a pause, then her voice came hesitantly. "Well, she didn't actually tell me. Her boyfriend did."

"Boyfriend? How long has she been with him?"

"About three months. He's really nice, which I suppose he'd have to be in order to date her. She's very sensitive when it comes to ordinary people and hasn't really done much dating. Even the relationships she has had have been short and ended badly. I think she has some very high standards when it comes to people she'll allow to be close to her, and there's just not many people out there who can live up to them. To get back to the story, I called there about a week ago and he answered the phone. He knows a little bit about her correspondence with me, so he told me about how she was feeling and that the reason she hadn't answered the phone was because she hadn't even been out of bed all day. I already have my theories about what's going on, but I don't want to say anything in case I'm wrong."

Jondy bit down on her lip nervously. If Kiera had the same idea that she did, and it was true, Zack was definitely _not_ going to be very happy. "You think she's pregnant, don't you?"

"Yeah, that's all I can come up with. She could be anywhere in her first trimester right now, but I don't know if she has any idea. I figured you might want to see her, since you're working with Zack now. I'm afraid to talk to her about it, but maybe you could find out if she has any thoughts about what is going on."

Ten minutes later, Jondy was pleading with Zack to let her go see Shayna. "Come on, there's only two left that I haven't seen. You may as well let me make the full rounds. Besides, she only lives about five hours away, it's not like we'd be going out of the way. Zack, if you want me to be any help at all, then you're going to have to let me talk to them all face to face. Nobody's ever going to confide in me if they hardly know me."

He rolled his eyes and took another bite out of the cold strawberry pop tart he'd taken out of his bag. "Jondy, they all know you already. You've talked to them over the phone, even if you haven't seen them all yet. Just because it's been a few years doesn't mean that you have to start all over again."

"That shows how much you know," she snapped. "I happen to know I've changed quite a bit since the escape, and I'm sure everyone else has changed as well. At Manticore, we were all very similar because we all had the same past experiences, but we've led separate lives since we got out that developed us in different ways. Whether you want to believe it or not, we've all become very different from the kids we used to be, even you."

Although he had only taken a few bites out of it, Zack set his pop tart to the side and reached out to take her arm, which she guessed was an attempt to calm her down. "Listen, I know you're just using this as an excuse because I distinctly remember having an argument about this a while back and our positions were completely reversed, but our changes aren't why I'm against going to see Shayna. If you wanted to go see Blake, I wouldn't have a problem with it, but with Shayna it's a different story. She's, well, I think she's changed more than the rest of us. I really don't think it's a good idea for you to see her so soon."

Now he had her thoroughly confused. "Zack, she's known that I'm working with you for about a week now, and we've talked over the phone once. I didn't get anything out of that conversation that would turn me against going to see her. Why do I get the feeling that something's going on that you don't want me to know about?"

He glanced at the address list, which was sitting on the tiny bedside table. "If you want to go see her yourself, that's fine. There's enough gas in the truck we have now to get you there. I just won't go with you." He put a finger quickly against her lips just as she started to open her mouth. "Don't ask questions, all you have to know is that I won't go with you. Got it?"

She nodded and stepped out of reach, effectively removing his hands from her arm and lips. "I still don't understand, but I won't ask. I do plan to go see her, though. That's still okay with you?"

"Yeah."

~~~~~

A few hours later, Jondy was approaching a tiny house that sat five miles out of the nearest town. _At least she has some privacy,_ Jondy thought with some approval. She had always wanted to live in a house in the country. There was a beat up little car sitting in the driveway, which she guessed belonged to Shayna's boyfriend. In the backyard she could hear a dog barking, which turned out to be the cutest little Golden Retriever puppy she'd ever seen. Even as she approached the front door, Zack's words kept coming back to her. _"She's, well, I think she's changed more than the rest of us. I really don't think it's a good idea for you to see her so soon."_ What reasons did he have to not want to see one of his own siblings? 

She didn't have to wait very long after she knocked for someone to come to the door. The man who opened the door wasn't extremely good-looking, but his warm eyes made her like him immediately. She could already see why Shayna liked him so much. "Hi. I know we haven't met before, but I used to be a very close friend of Shayna's. I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd drop in."

"Are you Kiera?"

She smiled and shook her head. "No, but I know her. Could I come in?" After he stepped aside to give her room, she studied the small front hallway. The house appeared to be even tinier on the inside, but it had a comfortable feeling to it. "By the way, I'm Amanda," she added, turning to face him again.

"I'm Brandon. Shayna's in the bedroom if you wanted to see her." Jondy followed along behind him as they made two short turns and wound up in another tiny but homey room. On the bed was a very beautiful redhead, with bright green eyes that almost didn't look natural. Shayna looked up and smiled at Brandon, then looked curiously at Jondy. 

"Hello," she said quietly, staring intently at Jondy as she tried to figure out who she was. Jondy could see some spark of recognition in her eyes, but it was obvious Shayna hadn't placed her yet. She glanced up at Brandon and smiled again. "Could you give us a few minutes alone?"

"Are you sure you feel up to it?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." As soon he had shut the door behind himself, Shayna lost some of the kindness in her eyes. "Ok, who are you? I know you're an X5, but I can't remember which one."

"I'm hurt," Jondy pouted playfully. "You don't recognize me? I'm Jondy!"

Shayna's smile popped back into place as though it was an automatic response. "Jondy?! God, it's been so long! I take it you're here just to make sure I've been a good girl?"

"Well, I've been stopping in to see everybody just to get reacquainted. I don't really think that can be done properly over the phone. How are you feeling? I wouldn't have expected to find you in bed during the middle of the day."

"I'm okay, I guess I'm just feeling a little flu-ish. I'm not really used to it, so I might be overreacting a little bit. How are you getting around on your own? I would have thought that a social worker somewhere would have tried to put you in a foster home by now."

"Zack is letting me stay with him until I'm old enough to live on my own, although I was taking kind of a risk coming out here on my own. Zack had other stuff to take care of, so I had to talk him into letting me come here." How in the world could she be expected to say that he didn't want to see her?

Shayna stared at her in disbelief. "Are you serious? Zack's letting you live with him? But you're only sixteen, right? That means you'll be living with him for two years!"

Jondy blushed at the astonishment in her sister's eyes. "Yeah, but I might be able to leave a little earlier than that. It wouldn't surprise me if he found a way to get his hands on a really good fake ID for me so that I can live on my own. He's not extremely comfortable with the situation."

"Uh, Jondy?" she began nervously. "Be careful living with him, okay? He might be a lot more comfortable with the situation than you think."

"What do you mean by that?" Jondy asked suspiciously.

"I just mean that every now and then he gets in these moods, and there's just no reasoning with him. It's more than the usual control freak thing he has going on, it's more like when he decides he wants something. There's no holding him back then." To Jondy's surprise, Shayna's eyes welled up with tears. Before she could ask what was wrong, she got her answer. "I wasn't really telling the truth before. I know for a fact I don't have the flu, but I really don't want Brandon to know." Jondy knew what was coming out before Shayna even opened her mouth again. "I think I'm pregnant."

Jondy tried to look at least a little surprised. "Why don't you want Brandon to know? I'm sure he'd be thrilled to find out."

Shayna's eyes widened as if Jondy was insane. "What? He'd be furious! You don't understand, I haven't slept with Brandon! We've been together for only a few months, I would never sleep with someone that early. I've had some bad times since we escaped from Manticore, and I really have a hard time letting people get close to me. Brandon respects me, that's why we haven't done anything."

"Then who's the father?" Jondy asked softy. Suddenly, Shayna became very quiet, and Jondy could easily see the deer-in-the-headlights expression that she was trying desperately to hide. "You can't be that far along, so it must have happened while you were dating Brandon. You two seem to get along so well, why would you cheat on him?"

Now the tears slowly flowed out from her sister's eyes. "I didn't have any choice. It was about a month ago when it happened. I had been trying to keep Zack from finding out that I was living with a man, but somehow he heard about it. Brandon was at work when he came over to give me one of those famous lectures of his about exposure. I really don't know how it started, but you can see how it turned out."

__

No, that's impossible. Zack wouldn't do that, not to one of us. She didn't have time to think about it anymore, because Brandon chose that moment to return to see how things were going. "Is everything okay? Hey, why are you crying?" He moved quickly to the bed to sit down next to Shayna, who quickly wiped the tears off her cheeks.

"It's all right, we were just talking about some old memories."

Jondy glanced back and forth between the two for a moment, then commented quickly, "I was just leaving anyway. It was nice seeing you again, Shayna." Without even looking at them again, she turned and headed back to the front door. She pulled her light jacket closer against her body, but she knew the chill she felt wasn't due to the weather. _"Be careful living with him, okay? He might be a lot more comfortable with the situation than you think."_

The ringing of her cell phone surprised her, but the chill only grew worse when she saw the number that was calling her. It was Zack's number. "Hello?"

"How soon can you be back here? We have a problem with Krit."

Even as she was saying she could be at Krit's place by the end of the day, she couldn't help but wonder about what she'd just found out from Shayna. Now she could see why he hadn't wanted to come here. _You're getting ahead of yourself. Just wait until you've talked to him face to face, maybe he can explain everything better. There has to be a reason other than 'he was angry'. _After she hung up the phone, she took off as quickly as possible. If things were worked out quickly enough with Krit, then hopefully she would have her answer by midnight.

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A/N 2: Please review! It's good therapy for me. :P 


	6. Still Human After All

Author's Note: **Hay25**, the pairing will eventually be J/Z. Shayna's only a roadblock. :)

Disclaimer: No matter how much I wish it, Dark Angel is not mine.

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Family Relations

By Be Boring

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Chapter 6: Still Human After All

__

Every city looks the same, Jondy thought with some depression. She was having a hard time telling all of the cities apart other than the signs as she drove in. St. Paul had the same dreary, dilapidated buildings as she had seen everywhere else, but the difference here was that she knew Krit was in trouble somewhere. Zack had told her to meet him at an old CD store that was simply a cover for the black market in town. Jondy already had her ideas about what Krit had gotten himself into by the time she reached it and slowed down to see what the situation was, so it didn't come as much of a shock when she saw her tall, dark brother standing about three hundred yards away surrounded by a lot of men with guns. The only relief she had was that they didn't appear to be from Manticore.

Without warning, Zack slid into the truck on the passenger side and pointed to a small garage that sat empty next to a long-deserted house. "Park it in there, then we'll go get him."

"What did he do? Don't tell me he tried to rip off the black market around here."

Zack's expression told her that that was exactly what had happened. "He always underestimates the security these people have. He managed to get past every camera and motion sensor they had in the warehouse, but ended up getting caught by the guard dogs on his way back out. The bags of cash slowed him down enough for them to corner him, and now we're the ones who have to deal with it." After she had parked the truck in the garage, she tilted her head in Krit's direction and raised her eyebrows questioningly. He glanced back at the scene and sighed. "Ok, we're going to come at them from both sides, you from the west, me from the east. I'll go straight into the crowd, so I'll be the distraction. You'll come over the store behind Krit and get him out of there. As long as those men aren't right on top of you, don't worry about them, I'll take care of it. You'll probably have to deal with one or two of them, because I'm sure some will stay back to make sure he doesn't get away while the rest come after me."

"But Zack, kicking the asses of at least ten men is exposure, isn't it?"

"It's only exposure if they can tell the cops what happened." She didn't ask him to explain himself, she knew perfectly well what he meant. _Please don't let there be any hoverdrones around, _she prayed silently as she followed him to a nearly dead hedge, which was apparently the point where Zack intended to split up. He only had to tilt a hand in the direction of the store and she was off, keeping an eye on the men off to her left to make sure they hadn't noticed her. The dry remainders of the hedge were hardly any protection from sight, but it was all she had. As she slid along, her sensitive ears started to pick up what appeared to be an interrogation.

"You said there were other people with you. Where are they? We've already established that you had all the money, so what was their purpose?"

Krit glared down the other man without flinching. "They were supposed to be helping me avoid all the security measures you had taken, but they bailed at the last minute. Their car backfired as they took off and the dogs woke up, then I came out. How many times do I have to tell you?"

"We've already heard that, but I want to know just how they knew everything we had set up. Was it an inside job? Was somebody you see here one of your coconspirators?"

Krit looked around, carefully scrutinizing every face. "Well, he looks kind of familiar. Wait, no, that's not the right guy. Hey, do I know you? No, no, that's not it." It didn't take much more of this before the man questioning him punched him. Jondy rolled her eyes as she reached the store. If that man knew just what he was dealing with, he would have at least tried to hit him with something like a two-by-four rather than just his bare hand. She backed up, preparing herself for a running jump, and just as the interrogator started yelling, she leapt onto the roof of the tiny store. Despite the severity of what she was supposed to be doing, she couldn't hold back the slight thrill she felt at being part of an X5 mission again. Sure, Zack had given her a rather tiny role, but she was grateful that she wouldn't be going straight into the thick of things her first time out. 

Zack's head popped up over the top of one of the thugs' cars. When he spotted her, he gave a swift nod and jumped over the car, landing on a man who hardly looked interested in what was going on. At his shout, the interrogation came to an abrupt halt as everyone else rushed in their direction. Just as Zack had predicted, three men stepped back and surrounded Krit, pulling out their weapons and keeping their backs to him. That was their biggest mistake. Their second biggest mistake was that they only tied his hands, not his feet.

The moment Krit jumped through the loop in his arms so that they were in front of him and grabbed one of his temporary guards, Jondy dropped off the roof and landed on one of the others. The third man wheeled around much faster than she would have expected him to and fired in her direction. She hissed as the bullet grazed her arm, but then lunged forward at him and knocked him to the ground. She heard Krit punch someone behind her, then he was grabbing her arm and pulling her towards the store. "You go up first," he said quickly, and without giving her a choice, gripped both of her legs and pushed her up onto the roof. Once she was all the way up, she turned and reached down an arm to grab his hand. 

When she thought about it later, she would remember vaguely hearing the gunshot, but neither she nor Krit heard it at that precise moment. In fact, the only things that gave Jondy any sign that something was wrong were Zack's shout and the sudden bulge of Krit's eyes. If it hadn't been for her training, she might not have been able to continue the mission at the sight of all that blood. It had been a good hit, Krit had been struck in his left lung. She hurriedly pulled him up onto the roof beside her and tore his heavy leather jacket off. _Oh my God, please let that have missed his heart, please, please, please._ In spite of the fact that he was nearly twice her weight, she wrapped him around her shoulders and dropped down off the store, then took off running for the garage. She could just barely see Zack throwing the men off of himself, and the last thing she saw of them was him grabbing one of their guns. 

Krit grunted as she pushed him onto the back of the truck, but it was almost drowned out by the sound of gunfire behind them. Jondy didn't have to look back to know that Zack had killed everyone behind them. _Everyone will just think it was another group of thugs that killed them,_ she thought blankly. For some reason she was having a difficult time concentrating. She just stared down at her brother, who returned the look and smiled as he reached over to squeeze her hand. "I'll be fine, sis. We're made to be tough, remember?" She so desperately wanted to reply to that with "You think that now, but you can't see the puddle of blood growing beneath you like I can," but she couldn't bring herself to say something like that. Why scare him like that?

It wasn't until Zack hopped into the driver's seat and took off with her still in the back that she snapped out of her daze. She gently but quickly rolled Krit onto his stomach and lifted up his shirt to get it out of the way. As she pressed her hands down with all her strength on top of the bullet wound, she called out to Zack, "We need to get to a hospital, we can't take care of this ourselves."

Zack rolled down his window so that he could talk to her more freely. "I know, but we can't go to the hospital here. How's it going to look when they find out that there's been a shooting over here and they turn around to see that we're bringing in a shooting victim? I know that it's bad, but we have to go to a different hospital."

Krit sucked in a deep breath, which didn't make Jondy's job any easier. "Almost all of the hospitals in the surrounding area are closed down, it would take at least half an hour to get to another one even if you sped the whole way. There's this guy I know that practices medicine out of his house, he'll take us in without asking questions. He lives over by that restaurant we ate at the last time you came here alone. The house is…" What the house was, they never heard. Jondy tapped the side of his face, even smacked him once, but he was out cold. 

"Zack, hurry up, I'm not going to be able to stop the bleeding," she practically whispered, struggling to keep the tremble out of her voice. Even though he didn't reply, she knew he had heard her, and she felt the truck accelerate significantly. She hardly noticed when the truck stopped and Zack ran to the nearest house.

"Is there a doctor in this area?" he asked breathlessly.

The old woman who had answered the door pointed to a tiny white house that was in desperate need of a paint job. "Dr. Ashton lives over there. Are you alright, dear?" Zack didn't take the time to answer, he simply ran back to the truck, lifted Krit out onto his shoulders, and carried him to the house as fast as he could go. Jondy trailed along behind, forcing her eyes to focus on the ground in front of her rather than on any of the blood that practically surrounded her. The smell was filling her nostrils until she almost felt like hurling on the spot, but the light from the now open front door before her pulled her attention away from her lurching stomach. The words exchanged between Zack and the doctor sounded so far away, but somehow she heard Zack tell her to go inside and sit down. She numbly followed his instructions, and remained planted on the couch in the doctor's living room without saying a word. Even when Zack came in to sit down next to her and ask her how she was feeling, she refused to say anything. She felt that if she dared to open her mouth, she could do anything from screaming to puking. 

They had been in the house for over an hour before Zack came to her with what the doctor had said. "The bullet just barely missed his heart, so the biggest thing we have to worry about is the punctured lung and the blood flooding it. I know it sounds bad, but it's really not. From the way it sounds, and especially with his DNA, Krit would have survived even without a doctor. He passed out more from the shock of knowing he'd been shot and seeing all the blood. When you flipped him over to stop the blood flow, he saw all the blood that had been leaking out underneath him and panicked. Jondy, you can relax, he's going to be fine." Reaching towards her and pulling her cell phone out of her jacket pocket, he quickly dialed a number and handed the phone to her. "Here, it will do you some good to talk to someone who wasn't involved. Don't tell her what happened, just try to have a normal conversation. It might help calm you down."

Jondy had recognized Kiera's number from the sound of his dialing, and it made the weight in her chest lift up slightly. "Hey, it's me," she said softly when Kiera answered and Zack had walked into the back room to talk to the doctor. "I didn't wake you up, did I?"

"No, you know I'm a night owl. What's wrong? You sound like you've been crying."

Jondy's mind quickly rushed for a response, then her conversation with Shayna rushed back to her. "I wasn't crying, I'm just a little upset. I went to talk to Shayna today, and you were right, she's pregnant. The thing is, um, she's saying it's Zack's baby." Her voice had lowered to a nearly inaudible whisper as she finished the sentence, but she knew that Kiera had heard her. 

"Are you serious? How can that be? Maybe it was just her time."

Jondy didn't know what Kiera meant by 'her time', although the way it was phrased seemed to be familiar. "Well, she said that he had just found out about her living with her boyfriend, and they started arguing, and I guess it just sort of happened. She makes it sound like he raped her, but I can't imagine that, I just don't think I could ever believe he is capable of something like that. But why would Shayna lie?"

"I don't know. Maybe it really was just that time for her, and now she's embarrassed and doesn't want to admit that she willingly slept with him. I'm with you, I don't think Zack would rape anybody, but I don't know why Shayna would make it sound like he did. Have you talked to him about it?"

"No, it's been kind of busy lately, so I haven't had the chance." Zack just briefly stepped into her view down the hallway, leaning against the doorframe of Krit's room with his head hanging down. He looked so pale from everything that had gone on that she felt a twinge of sympathy. He had to be taking this harder than she was, he felt he had more responsibility than she did when it came to things like this. "I don't think I'll mention it, either. Shayna must be lying, there's no other explanation. I guess I could believe that they had slept together, but not the way she described it. The only thing that I'm sure she's telling the truth about is that she's a month pregnant. I wonder how she's going to break it to her boyfriend, because she made it sound like they haven't even slept together yet."

"Well, I'm sure she made the bed, so she'll have to lie in it," Kiera said roughly. Jondy couldn't help but be a little bit taken off guard by her sister's harshness.

"I take it you guys don't get along very well?"

"Not really. Something about her has always rubbed me the wrong way."

"Then how come she's the only one you're in contact with? I would think you'd have tried to get Brin's number or something like that."

"I was lucky enough to get my hands on her number during one of Zack's little checkups. Trust me, if I could have gotten someone else's number, I would have done it."

Jondy looked over at Zack again, who was now rubbing his temples wearily. "You know what? I think I'll call you back later, I want to talk to Zack for a bit."

"Ok, see ya."

After she had turned the phone off so there would be no more interruptions, she stood up and walked over to Zack. "Are you ok? You look a little white."

He stood up a little straighter and ran his fingers back through his hair. "I just feel kind of helpless when stuff like this happens and I have to hand someone's care over to somebody else. You know what a control freak I tend to be, I just don't like it when I don't have a say in what happens. I mean, I know he's going to be fine now, but I guess I'm still kind of shaken."

She wasn't sure she'd ever heard him talk so openly before. "You said it yourself, he's going to be fine now, so why don't you go sit down?"

He actually cracked a smile. "Are you giving me some of my own advice?"

"Yes, and you're answering a question with another question. C'mon, don't argue, you're going to sit down even if I have to drag you to the couch."

Zack rolled his eyes, but he allowed her to lead him by the arm to the couch and shove him so that he was sitting, then he watched her go sit in the recliner across the room. "You know, I think I picked the perfect person to work with me," he observed so quietly that she almost didn't hear him. "I know you generally stay quiet, but when you set your mind on something, there's no stopping you. Whether you agree with me or not, you're a natural leader."

Jondy was left speechless, so they just sat in comfortable silence until she became aware that he had fallen asleep. She smiled at the sight of her protective big brother leaning back against the couch with his mouth hanging open slightly as he slept, his hands twitching occasionally from whatever dream he was having. He almost looked like a normal person right now. Doing her best not to make a sound, she crept over to the couch and took him by the shoulders, gently tipping him to the side so that he was lying down. She leaned down and pulled off his boots, lifted his feet up onto the couch, pulled the afghan off the back of the couch, and laid it out over him gently. 

"Miss? The young man is awake. Would you like to talk to him?" the doctor asked suddenly, startling her when she realized that he had come out of the back room without her noticing and now he was only about ten feet from her. _Wow, I really must be worn out from everything today._

"Yeah, I'd love to talk to him," she replied eagerly. Without even waiting for the doctor to lead the way, she hurried to the back room and went straight to Krit's side. If she ignored the fact that he was paler than usual and had bags under his eyes that betrayed how exhausted he was, he seemed to be healthy enough.

"Well, it's the second time we've seen each other in the past two weeks, and I personally think each visit gets more exciting," he joked feebly, forcing out a smile.

"This one was just a little _too_ exciting though. Let's try not to do a repeat of this one, ok? Anyways, I think this whole thing nearly totaled Zack, he's flopped out on the couch right now, sound asleep. Actually, that's what you should be doing right now too."

"Oh, don't be like him and get all controlling on me now. I really just wanted to see how you were handling it. Zack's used to taking care of this kind of stuff, but you're not. When was the last time you saw someone close to you shot?"

She lowered her eyes to the floor sadly. "I haven't seen anything like this since Lydecker killed Eva."

He reached out and grabbed her hand. "Exactly, that's why I was worried about you. I know it probably didn't occur to Zack to tell you about all of this, but you need to be prepared to deal with more stuff like this. You're so different now, and everyone else is too. Some of us have turned out to be perfectly fine, others are the troublemakers that don't mean to get into trouble like this, but then there's some that turned out really bad. I mean really, really violent. You might end up seeing a lot of things that will make you wish you'd never seen any of us again, but now that you're in it this far, you can't really get back out. You need to be ready for them, do you understand?" 

She opened her mouth to say that she understood, but she saw his eyelids starting to droop. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze and sat next to him quietly as he dozed off. Even though she knew he couldn't hear her anymore, she whispered, "I know you were referring to Ben, but he's not the only one, is he? There was someone else you were trying to warn me about, right?" She sighed and slipped her hand out of his. Why was Krit the one to tell her this instead of Zack? Wasn't it Zack's responsibility to warn her about what she'd be dealing with? Why didn't he tell her before he gave her the chance to become his SIC? As she walked out to the living room and saw him still sleeping soundly, the answer struck her. _He was afraid I wouldn't agree to work with him._ Looking down at him now and rethinking everything that had happened today, she realized that it didn't matter. Even if he had told her what the others had become, it wouldn't have made a difference. Despite their problems, they were all still her family, and she was determined to be in it for the long haul, no matter what.

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Author's Note 2: As always, please leave a review! 


	7. Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire

A/N: Sorry for the wait, my internet's been acting funny. I think we finally got it all sorted out, so I updated as soon as possible.

Disclaimer: I only seem to own the occasional weird character, but nobody else is mine. :( Even the chapter title belongs to someone else. (Tolkien is a writing genius!)

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Family Relations

By Be Boring

****

Chapter 7: Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire

"It's not bad, but I liked my old neighborhood better," Krit commented as he wandered around the new apartment that Zack had gotten for him. Jondy personally liked it, but she didn't want to say anything to start an argument. The two men had burst out fighting every half hour during the long drive to get here over the fact that Krit had to be relocated. Of course Krit didn't want to move, but Zack insisted because of the fact that he'd been involved with all those deaths and that doctor knew about it. 

__

"It's just not safe there anymore, even you must realize that," Zack growled, pulling over the car because he knew that soon he wouldn't be concentrating on the road. Jondy sat quietly in the backseat, just watching their tempers flaring and hoping she wouldn't get caught in the middle of it. How was it that Zack could insult someone at the worst possible time without even knowing what he was doing?

"Even me? What the hell is that supposed to mean? It's not like I'm a fucking idiot, you know. I know perfectly well it was dangerous back where I was, but I could have at least stayed in the general area. I knew every way there was to steal money there without being noticed, if I had been able to stay there even another year I'd be filthy rich!"

"Well, you obviously didn't know how to steal money from everybody_ without being noticed, otherwise we wouldn't have had to come out to save your ass!"_

"It was a setback, but was it really that much of an inconvenience for you? Jondy, did you have a problem with coming to help me out?"

Her eyes widened as both men turned to look at her, waiting for completely opposite answers. "Guys, I'll plead the fifth on that one, ok?" They didn't even acknowledge her after that, they knew she wouldn't get involved. It didn't bother her though; in fact, she was grateful. Why pick sides with one of them? They would never let her forget it.

Now they were still ignoring her, so she just wandered around on her own, poking her head into the huge master bedroom, then the tinier guest room, and even the bathroom that looked like it belonged to a celebrity. _Who would need a bathroom this fancy? How much did Zack pay for this place? _She guessed he bought a nice place just to try and appease his fiery little brother, but it didn't seem to be working. Krit was still fuming as he tried to consistently keep at least ten feet between himself and Zack. She rolled her eyes at the overdone show of stubborn testosterone and reached into the tub to turn on the hot water. She practically squealed with delight when it almost immediately came out scalding hot. "To hell with you, Krit, _I'm_ moving into this place! How many places can you find anymore that still have hot water?"

She turned around to see both guys standing in the doorway, argument temporarily forgotten, as they stared at her with eyebrows raised. Krit was the first to speak. "Do you always get so excited about hot water?"

"Hell yeah, at my foster home they deliberately cut off our hot water, and there has hardly been any hotels we've stayed at so far that had even remotely _warm_ water. Why are you staring at me like that?" Neither one answered, they just looked at each other and shook their heads with smirks on their faces. "Sure, now we start with the secret stares. Don't think that I don't know what's running through your minds." She squeezed between them and headed back for the kitchen, which because of them she had avoided thus far. "Do you really need such a big fridge? How much can one person eat?"

Zack shook his head in disbelief. "This coming from the one person who has managed to out-eat every single one of the others? I'm still wondering where it's all going."

"He's not kidding, sis, you really have an appetite on you," Krit agreed, glancing down at her flat stomach and throwing up both hands like he'd given up trying to figure it out.

__

Unfortunately I know where it's going, she thought grouchily. Now she hadn't just noticed the increase in her breast size, but also in her butt. _As Cassie would say, I'm going to have a ghetto booty. Maybe the guys are right, I should slow down a little with the eating._ Still, her eyes were drawn once again to the refrigerator and she found herself wishing that there was some good food in there. "I'm just catching up on lost time," she muttered absently. She was damn lucky the guys considered it to be an adequate reply to their comments, because she didn't really feel like explaining what she really meant. She hadn't even intended for it to slip out.

A knock on the door made them all jump. After they all stood there for a few seconds, Krit headed for the door and answered it, his body tensed in case it wasn't a friendly visit. As it turned out, it was a _very_ friendly visit. A beautiful young Latin woman was standing in the hallway, smiling sweetly and holding a basket of the most delicious looking cupcakes Jondy had ever seen. "I heard that I had a new neighbor, so I thought I'd welcome you to the building." Watching the woman give Krit a complete once-over with her eyes, Jondy could have laughed. _Bullshit, she saw him as he was coming in and thought she might get herself a good-looking bed partner. Those cupcakes aren't even homemade._ Still, she didn't want to say anything to spoil it for Krit, because she knew he wouldn't complain if that really was why she was here.

Zack nudged her with his elbow as he came to stand next to her. "Let's get out of here, I'm really not interested in watching this."

There was a quick set of goodbyes, then they left Krit and his neighbor to their own devices. Jondy couldn't help but be in a good mood since the tension had ended. "Were you not interested, or were you jealous?"

Zack was so stunned by this that he stopped dead in his tracks to stare at her. "Jealous? Why would I be jealous?"

"Oh come on, like you don't know what I'm talking about. That girl could be a model, and she had her sights set on sweet little Krit. I think if we weren't there, she would have had a very different greeting for him."

"You're really dirty-minded, you know that?"

"We were both thinking it, I just happened to say it out loud. So, where are we headed next?"

Zack pulled out the list of addresses and replied, "Montana. You haven't seen Blake yet, and I know it's only a matter of time before you ask. Just to let you know, he's had the same roommate for about a year now, and the guy can be a little hard to tolerate. Hell, it's almost impossible. I probably visit Blake the least out of everybody just so I can avoid Peter."

"Oh, he can't be that bad."

~~~~~

Four hours later, Jondy was sitting in a dank living room watching a young white man with the largest afro she'd ever seen burp the ABCs. Zack was sitting just behind him, rubbing his temples and looking like he would love nothing more than to reach forward and snap Peter's neck. It had occurred to her a few times as well. "I don't suppose Blake will be home anytime soon?" Zack asked irritably.

"Not for a while yet, dude. Hey, why don't you two just go in the guest bedroom and chill for a little bit while I make some spaghetti for supper, ok?"

Jondy and Zack were all too happy to comply, any chance to get away from him was welcome. The second they stepped into the extremely large guest bedroom, Jondy's eyes popped out of her head. "What in the world does he need with all these beds?" After counting, she realized there were ten beds sitting in the room, the vast majority being king-sized. There was hardly any room to even walk.

"Didn't I tell you? Peter thinks he's some sort of charity worker from God, so he steals stuff from retailers that most people these days can't afford and sells them at dirt-cheap prices. Every month or so he switches items; he must be working with beds right now."

"You weren't kidding when you said this guy was weird. Does he really think he'll be able to sell these?"

"He usually manages it. Besides, this isn't the weirdest thing he's ever done. You should have been here the time he thought that everyone should have a pet. I don't think I even stayed an hour that time."

She wandered over to one of the beds and flopped down. She had to give him credit, they were comfortable beds. "What does Blake do, anyway?"

"He's a DJ for a radio station. He works practically fifteen hours a day, but he makes pretty decent money. I don't think he's ever asked me for financial help before."

"I don't blame him for working so many hours. Why would he ever want to come home if Peter hardly ever leaves?"

"Actually, they get along together really well, which I just don't understand, but I'll put up with it as long as Peter isn't a danger to him. I think the worst that could happen is that someone might find out about just who is stealing all the crazy things in this town and the police might get a glimpse of Blake's barcode when they come to arrest Peter. I keep telling him he should laser it off regularly, but he never listens."

"Why would he want to? It just keeps coming back, and I've heard it hurts like hell to remove them. Why put yourself through that every few weeks?" Just as Zack opened his mouth, she rolled her eyes and said, "I know, I know, to prevent exposure."

"Speaking of that, we should probably think of getting yours removed."

She sat up and crossed her arms. "Sorry, I'm not interested. Why would I want to hurt myself like that every few weeks?"

He could tell she wasn't going to back down, so instead he said, "Well, you should at least get your hair dyed and cut, Lydecker knows what you look like. We should have done it a lot sooner, but I got so caught up in other stuff that your hair was the last thing on my mind. Tell you what, since it'll get you out of here for a while and you won't have to put up with the human Chia pet, why don't you go do it now? There's a hair salon just around the corner, go do whatever you want with your hair." He pulled out a wad of cash and threw it to her. "While you're out, pick us up something to really eat. I've had Peter's cooking, it's not even edible."

Jondy took the money gladly and slipped out of the apartment while Peter was completely wrapped up in making his sauce. She noted with some amusement that she could smell the noodles he was boiling burning at the bottom of the pot. Her amusement left however when he lifted a leg and farted loud enough to wake the dead. _Pleasant. _Once she was outside, she took in a deep lungful of air and let it out in relief. Finally, she was in a world where people were at least a little saner. The hair salon wasn't a very big place, but it was cozy once she was inside. A portly little woman smiled at her from where she was cutting another customer's hair. "Sit down, dear, I'll only be a minute." Jondy sat down in the nearest chair and made herself comfortable as she watched an old rerun of something called the Jerry Springer show, watching a woman beat her cheating husband over the head with a rather large purse. 

By the time her turn came, she already had a pretty good idea of what she wanted her hair to look like. "I'd like to cut it shoulder length, but layered so it flares out, then dye it that brownish-red that's in the picture here, but put in some blond highlights. How much will that cost?"

The woman stood there and thought it over for a minute, then replied, "$30." Jondy couldn't help thinking that was extremely cheap, even just haircuts cost a fortune these days, but she wasn't about to complain. At least now she had enough money left to buy a _really_ good meal. 

When everything was done, Jondy couldn't help thinking that her hair smelled funny, but she liked the look. In fact, she didn't think she had ever looked better. She handed three ten-dollar-bills to the woman and thanked her quickly. Just as she headed for the door, an announcement came over the television. "We interrupt your current television program to bring you this breaking news story. Citizens of Cohagen have been warned to stay inside their homes or workplaces and lock the doors, and at all costs stay out of the woods. Roadblocks are being set up all over the perimeter of the city. Not more than an hour ago, the body of 38-year-old Brittany Heilis was found in the woods north of the city, displayed on a hill that could easily be seen from Highway 59. Heilis's sister claims she saw Heilis leave the local church with a man in his late teens this past Sunday and hasn't been seen for the past three days. The suspect is said to be around six feet tall, with light brown hair. He was last seen wearing a denim jacket and jeans. Ms. Heilis sustained several cuts and bruises that the police say are attributed to running through the woods. It is believed that she had escaped from her kidnapper and was killed by him no more than an hour after her escape. Pictures from the crime scene show that her neck was snapped, possibly with only one hand from the finger marks that have been left, and her left arm was broken. It is believed that this last injury was given to her post-mortem, along with the removal of the victim's teeth. Even stranger is a tattoo that her family claims she never had before. It appears to be a twelve-digit-" Suddenly, the screen filled with static and a couple groans could be heard up and down the street. _Lydecker is here,_ Jondy realized. _Ben._

The drive from Rock Springs to Cohagen didn't take very long, but she did end up spending a lot of time sneaking past the roadblocks. She hated dumping the SUV she had stolen, but she didn't have much of a choice. She couldn't very well sneak past these cops in a vehicle like that. A few times she wondered if she should call Zack, but she decided he most likely wouldn't come unless there was something wrong with her. He had cut Ben off, why would he come? Once she was in the city, she had no idea where she should look for her brother. _The church would be too obvious, wouldn't it?_ Still, she had to check it out. It wasn't a very easy task to sneak to the church, but she eventually made her way to it without any cops seeing her. 

The dead silence that filled the church made her stomach feel heavy with dread. It was like watching a scary movie and knowing that something bad was about to happen, but you just couldn't warn the character because they couldn't hear you. In this case, she couldn't do anything because she honestly didn't know what would happen. If Zack had stopped going to see Ben, then what had her sweet, storytelling brother turned into these past years? She slid along the pews, staying low in case any cops were around. She had a hunch that they were just outside, not in here, but she had to be careful anyway. She wasn't even sure she wanted Ben to see her before she got the chance to see him.

The appearance of a priest up by the front of the church took her completely by surprise. She could only see his back, but from what she could see he was fairly tall, young, and appeared to be strong. The hint of muscles underneath the cloth made her duck quickly into a pew as he turned around to look down the aisle. Somehow she knew that wasn't a priest, it had to be Ben. It was a perfect cover too, why would there be any cops in here if they believed that only the priest was here and the place was surrounded? 

Jondy finally had to take the next step, she couldn't just keep hiding from him. Without even taking a breath, she crept up the aisle until she was only seven feet behind him. Now that she was this close, she could just barely see the top of his barcode over the collar of his shirt, which somehow made her bolder. She could have chosen her first words better, though. "How stupid can you be?"

Ben whirled around to face her, his eyes wide with shock. She noticed that his face was a lot thinner now than it was as a child, and his eyes looked so horribly haunted, but it was still the same boy she had known when she was young. His eyes ran over her quickly as he tried to place her, then he smiled vaguely. "Jondy?"

Why did hearing him say her name suddenly make her so mad? Now that she thought about it, she was furious. In order to protect someone who hardly deserved it, she had snuck past a police perimeter and was sneaking around trying to save the only person that Zack had ever given up on, knowing fully well that even once she sent him on his way, he'd go out and kill again. It made her completely livid. "Yes, and I'll repeat my question: How stupid can you be? You have a brother living not too far from here, don't you realize that killing so close to him could result with Manticore catching him instead of you?"

Ben shrugged, still studying her closely. "You've changed a lot, especially your eyes. You didn't know that your eyes became harder, did you?"

"Do you even hear what I'm saying? You could have put Blake in so much danger by doing this. What the hell is running through your head?"

There was a silence, but at least this time she had the sense that he was going to answer her seriously and not try to change the subject. "I didn't know Blake lived nearby, it's not like Zack ever told me. And as for what's running through my head, don't act like you don't know. Isn't it obvious?"

"You've gone completely insane, that's what is obvious to me. I'm curious though, what was it that made Zack drop you so fast? He just came out one day and said he'd cut you off, why was that? Was he unhappy about one of your victims? A kid, maybe? Or was it one of us that you killed? We haven't talked to Max, so maybe it was her." She didn't really believe that he could kill one of the X5s, but she was desperate to get some kind of reaction out of him, one that wasn't so childlike. He had such a dreamlike quality when he responded that she wasn't sure he knew what he was doing.

Just as she'd hoped, she got a reaction. Anger flared up in his eyes so powerfully that she felt a touch of regret for insulting him like that. "Do you really think I could do that? No, I didn't kill Max, and no, I would never kill a child. I only compete with people who have a full comprehension of what is going on."

"Compete? You consider this kind of thing a competition? Ben, we're genetically superior to every human being on this planet, you'll never find someone who could beat you in a competition. You're ten times stronger than any of them, not to mention faster and smarter. Are you looking for the Blue Lady to save them by some act of divine providence? It's not going to happen, you're just going to keep killing them and endangering all of us. None of us want you to do this, so why do you insist on killing?"

He fell quiet, but it wasn't the kind of quiet that meant he was seriously considering what she was saying. It was more like he was trying to figure out something about her, perhaps how much she knew about what he was doing. "If you knew what I knew, you wouldn't say that with so much confidence. You're speaking for yourself, not all of the others. How do you know that none of them have thought about doing exactly what I am? You know you had as much fun as the rest of us that day, so why sit there and try to not only deny the existence of that instinct in yourself, but in the others too? Do you know why Zack cut me off? It's because he not only knew that he had the same urges I had, but also because he knew I was starting to influence some others. Has it ever occurred to you that maybe someone else has gone out with me on one of my missions and watched me complete it? I can even tell you that I've seen some of our other siblings kill just I like have, and they enjoyed it more than you will ever know."

"That's not true," she hissed, her body tensing in preparation for the fight she could feel coming. "I've talked to all of them, none of them are capable of doing what you do."

"Now, _that_ is what isn't true. I've seen it with my own eyes, and I'm not quite as crazy as you think I am. I just don't hide my natural instincts like the majority of you. How is Shayna?" The last question was so unexpected that she stood up straight and stared at him blankly, all thoughts of a fight forgotten. "Shayna? What about her?"

At that moment, she heard the voices of the cops out front. She could only catch pieces of their conversation, but she did know that they'd realized there were people other than the priest in the church. Ben had heard them too, and was already turning to run into the priest's study. She lunged after him, determined not to let him lock her out and escape while the police found her. The door scraped her side roughly enough to make it bleed, but she ignored it and headed for the window. It opened wide enough to allow her to slide out, still well hidden by the shrubs that surrounded the edge of the church. The cops were heading for the front, so she guessed that they expected to corner Ben inside. It wasn't going to happen though, Ben had crammed his way out through the window as well. She looked sadly at him for a moment, knowing that Tinga had been right, he was beyond their reach. "Can you take care of yourself from here?"

He nodded, then smiled briefly. "It may not have been the most joyous visit, but it was good to see you again. I still love you, baby sister."

She smiled back, feeling the tears burning severely at the back of her eyes. "I love you too, Ben, I just wish there was a way to help you so I could get the brother I used to know back." She didn't give him the chance to say anything else, instead she took off for the nearest house, knowing that the cops were all still inside the main church area and couldn't see her now. Ben took off in the other direction without looking back, which she supposed was for the best. She didn't want to have to look into his eyes again and see a completely different man from the boy she'd grown up with.

~~~~~

It was a relief to be back in Rock Springs, although she wasn't sure she wanted to go into Blake's apartment just in case he wasn't home yet. She also wasn't sure how she was going to hide the chicken dinner she'd bought from Peter. She didn't like him very much, but she still didn't really feel like hurting his feelings if she didn't have to. Finally she just sucked in a deep breath and opened the door. Peter was rushing around the kitchen looking frazzled, while the smell of burning filled the air. He finally groaned and shut off the stove in frustration, then plopped straight down on the floor and stared up at her. "Dude, I've never screwed up the chow so bad in my life. The meatballs are raw, the sauce is nothing but water, and the noodles are so burnt they look like black pipe cleaners. This totally sucks, we don't even have grub now."

"Sure we do, I picked some up." At the bright look in his eyes as the scent of the chicken reached him, she chuckled and headed for the guest bedroom. "Dig in, but save some for us."

Zack sat up when she stepped into the room. He had pulled three king-sized beds so they were side by side and was completely flopped out over them. Not a single piece of him was hanging off any of the edges, even though she personally felt he still could have pulled that off with only two king-sized beds. "What happened to you?" 

She looked down and realized that she'd forgotten all about the scrape that Ben had given her with the door. "Nothing, some stupid kid just ran into me with a skateboard and I hit the sidewalk too hard. I'll go clean it up."

His eyes told her that he didn't believe that, he knew perfectly well that she was hiding something from him, but he seemed to shrug it off and he walked past her, pausing only to reach out and ruffle her hair slightly. "I like the new style, it suits you." She smiled as he left, but it oddly froze on her face as he disappeared around the corner. Something was bugging her, what was it? _"How is Shayna?"_ Why had Ben asked that, and why was it bothering her again now? It didn't hit her until she was in the bathroom, using a washcloth to gently wipe away the blood on her side. The pregnancy-Zack wasn't the father, Ben was. _Shayna's the one who killed like Ben did. No wonder Zack cut him off._ Now only one thing still left her curious. If Shayna knew Ben was the father, why did she make it sound like Zack had raped her?

___________________________________________________________________________________________

A/N 2: It's weird, whenever I was writing Peter's lines I kept hearing the voice of Crush from Finding Nemo. Anyway, please review!


	8. Travel Time

Author's Note: Sure **Alexandra Bruderlin**, feel free to use this story on your site. What's the address for it so I can take a look around?

Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, I never owned DA.

****

Family Relations

By Be Boring

****

Chapter 8: Travel Time

"You've got to be kidding. I'm not doing it." Jondy crossed her arms and glared at Blake defiantly.

He looked at her pleadingly. "Is it really that big of a deal? Besides, I beat you by a landslide, it's time to pay up."

"If it was money you wanted, I wouldn't have a problem, but this is suicide!"

He laughed and handed her the shaving cream. "Come on, it will be funny!"

"He'll never forgive me, and I have to live with him for two more years!"

"It won't be that bad, now just go in there and get it over with!"

She was incredibly tempted to hit him over the head with the shaving cream, but restrained herself just in time. Blake stood behind her grinning as she opened the guest room door and slipped into the bed-filled room as quietly as she could. _I'm never betting against Blake in blackjack again. _Zack appeared to be sleeping peacefully, but she knew perfectly well that with Zack, things weren't always as they seemed. She sprayed out a large pile of shaving cream into her hand and very carefully placed it in his outstretched hand. His fingers twitched slightly and she froze, never taking her eyes off his face. When she was convinced he was sleeping soundly, she became a little more daring and spread some over his forehead. _Shit, I don't have anything to tickle him with,_ she realized. She didn't want to take the risk of going back out of the room to get something, so she leaned over him and used the ends of her hair to tickle his nose. The second she knew he was about to swing up an arm, she tore out of the room and slammed the door. The bang was followed shortly by Zack's yell, then a second bang as simultaneously Zack tumbled off the bed and Jondy and Blake ran out and slammed the front door. 

Blake was laughing so hard that Jondy thought he was going to hurt himself. "I'm glad you're finding this so entertaining, because I'm leaving it up to you to arrange my funeral. Please make sure they reattach my head correctly."

He rolled his eyes and ducked under the stairwell as Zack came out of the apartment. "Don't worry, sis, I've got you covered. Gee, it doesn't look like there's enough room for you under here."

"Make room," she growled and shoved him as far in as she could, struggling to cram herself into the tiny space next to him. Once they were packed inside and equally uncomfortable, Zack showed up right next to them.

"You are both in deep shit," he snapped, forcing them both to crane their necks to peer up at him. It didn't take more than one look for Blake to burst out laughing, but Zack rubbed a shaving cream smeared hand over his unprotected face. Jondy bit down hard on her lower lip to keep from cracking up as well, but even though she didn't laugh, Zack rubbed shaving cream on her face too. She grabbed the edge of their little cubbyhole and pulled herself out, then wiped the mess off of herself. 

Blake was still chuckling as he crawled back out and stood up. "Has anyone ever tried that on you before?"

"You're the lucky first," Zack replied. "If I had actually believed any of you would be stupid enough to do something like this, I would have expected it to be Krit."

They all headed back up to the apartment, Blake and Zack trading insults every few steps. It wasn't until they went into the bedroom to get some fresh clothes for the day that Zack spoke to her. "I'm guessing it was a bet, right?"

"Yeah, but you have to admit, it was a little funny. Nobody else has gotten you with something like that before. By the way, when are we going to be moving on? Not that it hasn't been great to visit with Blake for a few days, but there's only so long that I can put up with Peter. He's always trying to get close to me, and I can't say he smells the greatest. Do you think we could go see Kiera again?"

"Why don't you go see her? I would go with you, but Blake wants to move. Since he's thinking about living in a busier area, I was thinking I might take him to New Jersey, so we'll be occupied for a while. After that I'll probably go see Brin, so maybe we should meet up again there."

"Sounds good to me."

~~~~~

After all was said and done, Jondy was headed to Lenoir, North Carolina to see Kiera. It was a good thing she didn't need much sleep, because the trip took just over twenty-four hours, and she drove it straight through. She was sore by the time she reached her sister's house, but her pain was forgotten when Kiera stepped out onto her tiny front porch. If there was anything that Jondy envied about Kiera, it was her looks. Kiera stood at about 5'10", with her thick, kinky black hair in a tiny afro, but not even half the size of Peter's. It suited her well, especially when she put it in a headband to keep her hair from getting in her eyes. She had a very deep chocolate color to her skin, so rich that it almost didn't look natural, and extremely dark, nearly black eyes. Then she had very exaggerated curves that made every male look up when she entered the room, but she almost always wore dark colors to try and make the curves appear smaller. She claimed she was embarrassed about her figure, but Jondy thought she would give her right arm to look like that.

"I didn't think I would be seeing you so soon. Didn't you stop at a hotel? It's not like there's an emergency."

Jondy just smiled and grabbed her bag. "I don't sleep, remember? Besides, I didn't want to waste any of the money that Zack gave me. This isn't a bad time, is it?"

Kiera opened the front door to let her through. "No, I'm just looking over a few more things that the lab sent me. How are things going with you?"

"It's pretty good, it was great to see Blake again. I can't say I liked his roommate much though."

She laughed. "Peter? I've heard stories about him from Zack. About five months ago I was really sick, I don't know what it was, but Zack really cheered me up by telling me stories about that guy. Isn't Blake ever going to get away from him?"

They walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table. "As a matter of fact, they're out looking for a new place right now, otherwise Zack would have been here with me. How's that boyfriend you refused to let me meet the last time I was here?"

"Actually, he's in the back right now, so we might want to be quiet. He's sleeping like a baby. You'll meet him when he comes out."

"Could you at least tell me a name?"

"David. No nicknames either, he really likes being called David. It's one of the ordinaries' religion things. Apparently there was a David mentioned somewhere in the Bible."

"You don't know that story? You can't tell me that you've never heard of David and Goliath. Even I've heard of that story. If he's named after a different David, I don't know of any."

"Now that you mention it, I might know the David and Goliath story. I think he would remind people more of Goliath though, at first glance." They both laughed, then fell quiet as David stepped out into the living room. Once again, Jondy had to be extremely jealous of Kiera. The man standing in front of them was definitely gorgeous enough to be a model, and his muscles were so defined that he could easily pass for an X5. He seemed surprised to have a visitor, but he didn't comment about it. Kiera introduced them, and then he had to leave for work, but his image was still burned in Jondy's mind.

"If you're not careful, I might just try to run off with your man," Jondy joked. "Does he have a six-pack?"

"It's more like a twelve-pack. The girls at his job always hang around him, trying to get his attention, but he's a good guy. He's nuts about me, so I guess I shouldn't have to worry about you taking him away. So, any boyfriends in your future?"

"You mean after Zack gets through with all my prospects? Not likely. Don't get me wrong, I love living with Zack since it means that I get to go around and see everyone, but it also means that I have a big brother watching me all the time. He gives me plenty of room to breathe, but I think that if he saw me talking to a guy my age that he'd suddenly pop up between us like magic. Maybe he's got this radar that lets him hear every inappropriate thing that we say. Do you think if I say 'orgy' right now that he'd call me? Well, I'm having an orgy, Zack, what are you going to do about it?" She nearly shouted the last line, tilting back her head and throwing out her arms in emphasis. Kiera was cracking up on the other side of the table, and then the phone rang. Both girls sat bolt upright, their eyes wide. "You don't think…?"

"No, it couldn't possibly be him. Should I answer it?"

"It's your phone. It might not even be him." 

Kiera looked at her doubtfully, but got up and picked up the phone. "Hello? Yeah, I've looked it all over." She turned and mouthed _"lab"_ before launching into her explanation of what she thought the lab should do. Jondy sat back and listened with one ear as she thought over everything she wanted to talk about with Kiera. She hadn't told anyone about her encounter with Ben, mainly because she wanted to talk in person and not over the phone, and she really wanted Kiera's opinion on everything. Now that she thought about it, she had a lot of respect for her older sister. Kiera wasn't the oldest of her sisters, far from it actually, but she seemed to understand so much. She was extremely intuitive, and if she had a bad feeling about something, then you'd better not do it. She was also very good at reading people, she always seemed to know how they were feeling even if she wasn't looking them in the eye. 

After she had hung up the phone, she reconfirmed Jondy's perceptions of her. "So, what did you really want to talk about? I don't think David was your main reason for coming to see me over anyone else right now."

"You're right. Actually, it's about Ben. I saw him the other day."

Kiera sat down, giving Jondy her undivided attention. "Really? How did that happen?"

"I heard about another one of his killings in the town next to Blake's, so I went over to check it out. I found him in the church, and I found out something kind of disturbing. He never actually said it, so I can't be sure, but I think he's the father of Shayna's baby. He asked me how she was, why else would he have done that? I also think she killed with him a few times."

Her eyes widened and she leaned back, crossing her arms over her chest. "I think I get it now. Ben's been going all over the country, not only to keep Lydecker from catching him but also, I think, to find someone else who would kill with him. He eventually came across Shayna, who I think is the only other one out here that doesn't feel completely comfortable without four stone walls around her. With a serial killer, murdering leaves them with a feeling of power, and they do say that power is one of the greatest aphrodisiacs. Neither one of them probably expected it to happen, but we can all see what condition Shayna's in now. My guess is that Zack showed up shortly afterward and found out that they had killed together, and that's why he cut Ben off. He's too afraid that Ben will influence the rest of us, especially since he succeeded with one. I doubt he knows that they slept together or that Shayna's pregnant, but that's what makes it so easy for her. I'm sure that Shayna is pissed beyond belief that Zack got rid of Ben, so as soon as you showed up she did her best to turn you against him to get back at him. Zack never touched Shayna inappropriately, she just wanted you to think that. Think about it, you're in a position of power now. If she convinced you that Zack could be a danger to his sisters, then you'd pass it around to them to protect them, and it would eventually get back to our brothers, so everyone would know. In the end, if we didn't kill Zack, we'd at the very least desert him. Either way, she'd have gotten back at him without hardly lifting a finger. What do you think?"

Jondy couldn't believe what she was hearing. For some reason, she'd always thought that things would all be great once she was with her family, but Krit was right, some of them were very screwed up. Had Krit known that something was wrong with Shayna? When she voiced her question out loud, Kiera replied, "Jondy, we've all known for quite some time that something was off with her. Most of us have talked to Ben at least once, and there is a definite similarity between the two. You didn't notice it? It's all in the way they look at you, and how sometimes they don't seem to comprehend how serious something is. You can ask them a question two or three times before they realize they have to answer it directly. Maybe Shayna isn't as seriously insane as Ben is, but she's not normal, either."

"What should we do about her? I'd rather not tell Zack about all of this if I can help it, I don't know what he'd do."

"Do you want to confront her straight out?"

"No, like you said before, she doesn't fully understand how serious all of this is. I think we need to let her think that her plan is working so far. We'll go and talk to her acting like we're scared of Zack, but want to know more details about what happened before we tell everyone else. Maybe she'll slip up enough to disprove everything she's been telling me."

Kiera nodded. "That sounds pretty good, it would probably work with her. I don't have to be in work today, so how about it?"

"There's no time like the present."

~~~~~

Brandon's car wasn't in the driveway, so at least they would have privacy while they were talking to Shayna. They didn't need him around to ask questions. Jondy could have sworn she saw a pair of green eyes staring out one of the windows, but when they entered the house Shayna was laying in her bed. "Hi, what are you guys doing here?" she asked innocently. Now Jondy could see what Kiera had meant about the similarities between her and Ben. That innocent, doe-eyed look that made it so hard to believe they could do something vicious was completely identical. 

Kiera fiddled with her fingers nervously. "We wanted to talk to you about Zack. We're really worried about what he's capable of now that we know what happened to you. I know this will be hard for you, but could you tell us exactly what happened? How did it all get started?"

"Well," Shayna replied uncomfortably, "he came over about a month ago. I was in the backyard chopping some firewood because Brandon wanted to go camping over the weekend, and I thought I might be able to surprise him by having everything prepared. I heard Zack call for me in the house, so I went inside to see what he wanted. I thought it was just a regular checkup like he always does, but when I went into the kitchen he was holding up Brandon's wallet. I guess he forgot to take it with him to work, and Zack wanted to know what I was doing living with a man without telling him. He started yelling at me about how I didn't know whether or not he could be working for Manticore, or another agency that would like to get their hands on my DNA. I didn't get too upset until he went into my room and started trying to pack my clothes, which really pissed me off. We started to fight, and at one point he swept my legs out from under me and knocked me back on my bed. He held me down and said something about me not understanding how important it was to keep low and out of sight. Then the look on his face changed, he was really starting to scare me. I asked him to let me up, I would move if he really wanted me to, but he said he knew I was lying and I would come running back to Brandon as soon as I thought he wasn't looking. That's when he said that I couldn't be with Brandon, because I was his. He started kissing my neck, and then…" She broke off and started crying. The look on her face was so convincing that Jondy almost felt bad for her, but she shook her head to get rid of the feeling.

Kiera scratched her head like she was confused. "Did you try to fight back at him? Is there any mark that you might have left on him? It'll help us convince the others, because they might not believe you like we do."

Shayna shook her head. "I don't think so, he was holding my arms the entire time and he was already in position over me so I couldn't do any damage with my legs."

Kiera looked stumped now, so when Shayna wasn't looking she shrugged at Jondy. It was a good line, it left everything so that there was no proof other than the baby that anything had happened. There was also no way to disprove anything she said. Then something occurred to Jondy. "How did he get your pants off?"

"I was wearing a skirt."

__

While chopping firewood? Jondy thought skeptically. "Hey, we're sorry about giving you the third degree and all, so is there anything you want to drink? I'll go get it for you."

"A glass of water would be great," she said with a slight smile through her tears. Jondy slowly headed to the kitchen, not listening to the gentle murmurs of a conversation between Shayna and Kiera. For some reason, she didn't want to bring Zack into this. It was partly because she didn't want him to find out just how badly messed up Shayna was, but also because she wanted to take care of something on her own. Zack had put her in charge with him for a reason, and she wanted to prove she could handle the responsibility. She just hoped she didn't turn it into a disaster and have to ask Zack for help anyway.

As soon as she returned to the bedroom with the water, Shayna quickly said, "Brandon will be coming home pretty soon, and it might be dangerous if he sees both of you. I already found out that he doesn't really trust you." She gestured to Jondy. "I'm really sorry to have given you such bad news."

"That's okay, it's better that we know." There were some quiet goodbyes, then Kiera and Jondy left Shayna's house. Once they could no longer see the house in the review mirror, Kiera smiled.

"We got the proof we needed."

"What are you talking about? She didn't admit to anything, and even though the whole skirt thing was pretty lame, that's not enough to go by."

Kiera chuckled and shook her head. "That's not what I'm talking about. When you went to get her the water, I examined her. I've had a little bit of extra medical training since we left Manticore, so I convinced her to let me make sure she was completely healthy. I saw her last year by chance, and I doubt she's changed much since then. She sat up a little farther to let me examine her, and her shirt pulled a little tighter against her body. It's not noticeable enough for the human eye to see, but I could have sworn that her stomach was swollen just a little bit. I don't think she's just one month along, she's closer to three or four months. I found out from Zack a few months ago that Ben had killed someone in Chicago, and I know from Shayna that Brandon sometimes travels for teacher's workshops that are required every so often. My guess is that Shayna was hanging around with Ben then, and when Zack separated them, she hitched a ride with Brandon and ended up living with him. I don't doubt that Zack came out to confront Shayna after he found out that she was living with a man, but he never laid a hand on her."

It made sense, but there was one thing that Jondy just didn't understand. "If all of this happened a few months ago, why has Ben only been cut off for one month?"

Kiera cleared her throat uncomfortably. "I guess you're bound to find out sooner or later. The incident with Shayna wasn't enough to make Zack cut Ben off, even though he was really tempted. What really made him decide Ben was too dangerous was when he got me into it."

"Ben got you to kill with him? Why did you do it?"

"I was really screwed up at the time. David and I are doing good now, but we were having this huge fight then because I thought he was cheating on me. When Ben showed up, I was so pissed off that I gladly killed with him just to get rid of some of the stress. I killed two people with him, but I felt horrible afterwards. It's second nature to him, but I've become a little more adjusted to living by the rules, and I couldn't get over the fact that I was a murderer. I called Zack to come sort everything out, and that's when he told Ben he wouldn't protect him anymore. They had this huge fight, and he made me feel so guilty that I told him I wished he was the one who'd died instead of Eva. I regretted it right away, but he took it to heart. I think that's when he decided to have you be his SIC. He'd been thinking about it before, but I was the one who pushed him into it. He knows how to keep us hidden, but keeping us happy is a whole different situation. That's why he needed you. Didn't you notice that he was a little distant when you two were at my place last time?"

"I was so happy to see you that I didn't notice much else. Do you want me to talk to him? Maybe I could smooth everything out and make him see that you were just mad at the time."

"I'd appreciate it if you could just get him to talk to me."

Jondy tried to focus on a point as far ahead of the car as possible, wondering just what she had gotten herself into when she'd agreed to work with Zack. She was taking care of everyone's emotional needs, even his, and the weight of everyone's personal needs was just starting to make itself felt on her. They needed so much more than regular people in order to be happy, and they were so much more desperate for normalcy. How could she take care of it all? "I don't think it will be a problem. You'll be on the phone with him by tomorrow."

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Author's Note 2: Please review!


	9. Nineteen Going On Ninety

Author's Note: I am so so so so so sorry about the wait! I swear that all the teachers have a meeting about five times a year and go "I think we should all set out a _huge_ project right now that we have to tell the students to devote all of their time to, then watch them sweat as they try to get every one done." I have a research paper for Composition, a stack of paperwork for Advanced Biology, a thesis paper for History, this little book thingamajig for Spanish, and a huge assignment every day in Advanced Algebra so I don't even stand a chance of using my study hall time to work on everything. I am so close to smashing my head against a wall right now. :( Anyway, that kind of means my updates will take a while, at least until all the projects are done. At least I'm almost done with Spanish, I'm happy about that. 

Disclaimer: I don't own a thing. 

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Family Relations

By Be Boring

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Chapter 9: Nineteen Going on Ninety

By the time that Jondy and Zack met together at Brin's house, she had decided to just forget about what Shayna was trying to do. She wasn't in contact with anyone else, so what could she do? The only thing that really stumped her was what to do about the baby. Lydecker was going to want that child if he ever got wind of it, and Shayna could do a good job of describing Zack and Kiera, both of whom Lydecker wouldn't be able to identify right now if he ran into them in the street, plus she could talk about Jondy's new hairstyle. She'd seen the change, she knew Lydecker would need to know about it as well. _I guess I just have to wonder if Shayna is crazy enough to try and get in touch with Manticore. Would she be willing to go back to get revenge?_ Kiera had also mentioned the possibility that Shayna would talk to Lydecker over the phone and give them up, but kill herself before Manticore could reach her house to take her back. 

__

"I know she doesn't want to go back any more than we do, even if she can't cope with the outside world. I'm also not quite sure how much she cares about the life of her baby. Maybe she'll see suicide as a way of saving her child as well, and then we really won't stand a chance. I guess for a while there's nothing we can do, at least until Shayna makes a move. She won't be able to convince the others of anything because I'm sure you'll be the first person they will call, and you'll be able to set them straight. We all know she only has one option open to her, so I guess we'll have to see if she takes it or gives up the idea of revenge. Zack will know if something is coming, I think he has an inside source, so we should be okay. We might have to change our looks a little bit, but we'll make it."

After such a grim visit with one sister, it was a relief to reach Brin's house and relax for a while. It really surprised her that Brin was such a party animal. She hadn't seemed much like one during their last visit, but apparently she toned it down whenever Zack was around because it made him uncomfortable. As it was, New Orleans had more than enough clubs to keep the girls busy, not to mention the fact that Brin set Jondy up on about fifty blind dates. There were a few guys that she really liked, but soon figured out at some point through the conversation that they were only being nice because they thought they were going to get laid. At least they weren't forceful; as soon as she blew them off they left in defeat without giving her too much trouble. Then there were others that made her wonder what Brin was thinking. It was like eating anchovies dipped in strawberry jam, she had a very strange taste in the back of her mouth by the end of the date. Still, she could have laughed at what Zack would have done if he had seen some of the guys that Brin had set her up with. One of the guys was dressed up so punk that he only had to sneeze and his jingling would make the entire restaurant freeze and look around to see what the noise was. Then one of his chains became hooked on the chair as he was about to leave, so he dragged it halfway towards the door before she managed to get him to stop and detach it. 

"I know he's a little weird, but isn't he kind of cute too?" Brin would ask sweetly after the especially horrible dates. Jondy would just roll her eyes and flop out on the couch, wishing that for just one day she could sweep the earth clean of men and have a stress-free day. She couldn't have been happier to see Zack, because it meant the onslaught of strange males would be over. At least she was used to Zack. 

The day after he arrived, however, Jondy stepped out of the shower to overhear a not-so-happy Zack yelling at Brin. "Why were you sending her out on dates with the idiots I know you hang around with? How do you know that none of them would drug her?"

"None of those guys are like that, otherwise I wouldn't have set her up with them! Sure, they don't look like society's greatest creations, but they're really nice guys. Besides, Jondy is a big girl and no pervert would ever be able to get the best of her. You didn't go so crazy when I dated them, why are you upset about her?"

"Brin, you're two years older than she is, and don't take this the wrong way but you've had a _lot_ more experience in dating than she has. You know all the signs to look for so you know how safe the situation is."

"Exactly, which is why you should trust my judgment about who to set her up with. Even if those guys weren't particularly good matches for her, I knew for sure that they weren't dangerous. She's been on several dates already, and has she been hurt yet? No, she hasn't. In fact, I'm sure she'll be laughing about some of those dates with everyone else when you're not looking."

Jondy decided it was time to step in before Zack's temper got worse. She quickly wrapped a towel around herself and stepped out of the bathroom, noticing that Zack's face was a deeper scarlet than she'd ever seen it before. "Hey guys, what's going on out here?"

Zack scowled and ran a hand through his hair as he turned his back to her, obviously not willing to confront her about the dates. Brin looked like she thought everything was quite amusing, so she replied, "Nothing, Zack was just giving me another famous lecture about us girls having some _exposure_." Her eyes lit mischievously, and at this Zack turned on his heel to stare at her with wide eyes. 

"Excuse me?"

Jondy laughed and shook her head. "Come on, Zack, you're just letting her antagonize you. Why don't you go outside for a minute and I'll come talk to you once I'm dressed?" He nodded reluctantly and passed through the doorway, giving Brin a chance to completely crack up laughing. Jondy rolled her eyes and started pulling on some clothes from her bag.

"You are so immature sometimes, you know that? It's like you want him to think that I've had a shitload of one-night stands. I'll never hear the end of it."

"You've got to admit it was funny though, right? Did you see the look on his face? It's so weird, he's really protective of you, and I mean more than the way he usually is. Maybe…never mind."

"What? Maybe what?"

Brin glanced towards the door nervously, then continued hesitantly. "I don't know if anybody else agrees, but I always thought that you looked a little like Eva. Well, let me rephrase that. It's not that you really _look_ like her, but every little thing you do is kind of reminiscent of her. You picked up a lot of mannerisms from her, even more now that you've grown up. We all know it wasn't his fault, but I think he's always felt a little responsible for Eva's death. After watching you for a while, it's almost like she's back. You have the same effect on the people around you as she did, you make us feel good. Zack was the big protector, but Eva made the decisions and she made us feel happy. It's really weird how much you've become like her."

"So you think Zack is more protective of me because he doesn't want me to end up like Eva?"

"It's possible. Even if I doubt that Lydecker will be putting a bullet in your heart anytime soon, he's still worried about something happening to you. Bad things always seem to happen to good people."

"It doesn't mean that something will happen to me. The protection doesn't bother me though, it makes me feel safe. God help the person who tries to come between Zack and something he wants kept safe." She finished pulling on her shirt and headed for the hall, where Zack was impatiently pacing back and forth with his fists stuffed into his pockets. 

He stopped pacing right in front of her and looked down at her. "Brin's little crack at exposure was just a joke, right?"

She chuckled and nodded. "Relax, I'm as innocent as I was when they brought me into the Manticore nursery."

At least that made him loosen up and smile. "Jondy, I've never considered you to be innocent."

~~~~~

Jondy had always wondered about what Zack did in his spare time when he wasn't checking up on the others. Actually, she hadn't even been sure he had any, taking care of a group of rowdy X5s was no small task, but apparently he did have a place of his own. It was a small cabin in Maine that could be used all year round by an X5 because of their tolerance for cold weather. With a steady fire going, it was pretty cozy. Jondy took it upon herself to grab some spare rags and stuff them into any openings she found in the walls to block the draft she could feel at almost all times, even when she was sitting right by the fire. 

"How long have you had this place?" she asked later that night, as they sat as close to the fireplace as possible without being right in it. 

"About three years. As soon as I saw it, I loved it. There's no one around for miles except for summer when people decide to go camping, and there's no phone lines out here but the cell phone reception is great, so I'm never cut off completely. It's just a great place to relax until someone needs me. You didn't think I spent every day looking after at least one of our siblings, did you?"

She grinned. "I was starting to wonder if you had a life, but apparently you do. What do you do here, make s'mores and hot dogs all day?"

"Are you kidding? The scenery in this area is beautiful, every now and then I'll just take a few-hour-long walk, and there's this little pond a few miles back that I'm not sure anyone knows about which is great to swim in during the summer. To be honest, I also do a lot of sleeping. When I was running around alone, I didn't always have a chance to get much more than a few hours of sleep a week. It's nice that there's some instances where I can send you alone while I handle something else." Brin's theory about Eva sparked at the back of Jondy's mind. _Should I even ask him about it? Subtlety isn't my strong point._

"Zack, was there any reason other than the ones you've already told me that you wanted me for your SIC? Back when you first offered it to me, when you'd just had that seizure and I wasn't sure you were thinking clearly, you commented about how you wished Eva was here. Did she have anything to do with your decision?"

His eyes flashed over her face and then dropped down to the floor. "Yeah, actually, she had a lot to do with my decision. I know I don't usually believe in anything like fate or destiny, but this time I think that you were meant to be here. You don't understand, everybody assumed that the escape was spontaneous, but Eva and I had planned it out several weeks beforehand. We pretty much knew who would come and who wouldn't, so we paired the willing ones off on our own so it would be faster when the time actually came. Everything was fucked up though the night that Max saw Jack in his autopsy. It scared Eva and I into acting out our plans early, and we all know how that turned out. Lydecker shot her, and to me it felt like everything just spiraled out of control from there. It was pure luck that any of you made it out."

"If you already had us paired off, then who were you paired with? We all know it's too dangerous to put both leaders in one pair, so you must have split up, but you were the only one without a partner that night. Why was that?"

He pulled his blanket closer to his body and stared into the fire. "I made some last minute changes to the plans after Eva was shot. Originally, I was supposed to be with Max, and you were matched with Eva, but I couldn't leave you alone and it just wasn't safe to have a group of three, so I switched places with you. I'm sorry you ended up alone anyway, but none of us could have known that Max would fall through the ice. I heard you call her name, so I knew that something bad had happened, but after I was tasered and taken back to Manticore I didn't hear anything about her being brought in, so I assumed that either she had still made it out or they hadn't found her body yet. I'm just glad most of you are okay."

This was all new information to Jondy, but what stood out the most was that he had been taken back to Manticore. She hadn't known that, the rest of them had already been far ahead when it happened. "I don't understand, how did you get out again? How did you get away before they reprogrammed you?"

Apparently he hadn't expected to have to answer that, because he looked startled at the question. "Are you sure you aren't tired or something? It's getting kind of late."

She glared at him suspiciously. "You know I don't need nearly as much sleep as you do, so spit it out. You know you can trust me, right?"

Why was he looking at her so strangely? It was like he was seeing her for the first time. "You know, nobody's ever asked me that. I remember you asked me once why I thought I could trust you, but you've never actually asked me to do it. I guess I know I can trust you, especially since if I can't trust you, who can I?" She wanted to comment on all of this so badly, but she sensed that he didn't expect her to do it and was going to answer her earlier question, so she remained silent. "I just want to make sure you'll still want to work with me after you hear it, though. You won't change your mind, will you?"

"Of course not, nothing could make me give up my command. Just tell me before you lose your nerve."

"Okay, but try to remember that I was just a kid, and I've never forgiven myself ever since. I know everyone assumed that Lydecker aimed to kill, but he didn't. It was just like how Krit was shot the other week; the gunshot was very near Eva's heart but didn't actually touch it. I saw them giving her blood transfusions to make up for the blood loss when they took me to the infirmary. They planned to keep me sedated until they could bring me under control, but they were having so much trouble with the other kids they'd brought back that they just forgot about me. I kept as quiet as possible, and eventually the room was empty except for Eva and I, with several guards outside blocking all the exits. When she was conscious again, we immediately started coming up with plans to get out to reach the rest of you. It was scary, knowing that there were several of you out there without anyone in command. I know now that sounds funny, but back then everyone was so used to taking orders that we weren't sure what would happen when you weren't receiving them anymore. 

"I think we got a little ahead of ourselves because of how urgent we felt it was to get out, but I guess I can't change anything now. Anyway, we had knocked out most of the guards and had made it to the perimeter fence when Eva's body just gave out. She told me to go ahead and she'd catch up as soon as she had caught her breath again. I don't know if I just assumed that she would always be all right, but I did what she told me and I jumped the fence. I only went about a quarter of a mile before I heard a gunshot, so I stopped and waited. I stayed there for at least three hours, hoping that she had been shot at while running away but they'd missed her. Every time I heard a twig snap, I thought it was her. When I finally decided it was taking too long, I went back to see what was keeping her away. I don't think it ever crossed my mind that they'd succeeded in killing her, but I overheard some of the soldiers patrolling the perimeter fence talking about it. They commented that at least the leader of the escape had been shot before she could get out, so I think she was on her way over the fence or was already running away when they shot her. I don't even remember hitching a ride to Cheyenne, I just remember the fear I felt the next morning when I realized that I was in the outside world without Eva."

Jondy hadn't even realized that tears were slipping down over her cheeks, but when he broke off she unconsciously reached up and wiped them off her face. "Zack, it wasn't your fault. She was the C.O., you had to listen to her when she told you to go ahead."

He stared blankly at her, reminding her horribly of the day that he'd cut Ben off. "How can you say that? I didn't have to listen to her blindly. I should have seen that it was too dangerous for us to split up with her in the condition she was in. She had just lost so much blood, she didn't stand a chance without me there to help her. If it wasn't for me, she wouldn't be gone right now. I'm the one who cheated all of you out of your real C.O. and I can't believe you don't look more angry."

"I'm not going to blame you. Remember all those conversations we had about change? You told me that I've become much more adjusted to free will now that I'm free, and the same thing applies to you. Now you look back and say 'I should have done that differently' but the truth was that you were only a kid following instructions like you'd been taught to do. If Eva had told you to walk over a cliff, you'd have probably done it. I know she wouldn't be angry with you, she wouldn't have given you an order like that if she thought you wouldn't follow it. She wanted you to go ahead because she knew that even though it was dangerous for her if you split up, it would have been even more dangerous for you if you had stayed together. I think she wanted to make sure that at least one of you made it out, and she didn't think there was a chance if you didn't go your separate ways. Zack, you can't blame yourself for any of it, I just wish you had told me sooner and didn't torture yourself for all these years. Does anyone else even have a clue?"

He shook his head, refusing to look at her now. "No, I never even hinted about it to anyone else. Jesus Christ, if some of them are this unmanageable now, how do you think it would be if they knew I was the reason Eva was dead? Ben had looked up to her so much, he might have even killed himself by now. I'm actually surprised he hasn't already. This place is just too much stress for him. I think it's a lot for everyone to deal with. I mean, if even Kiera could snap and turn back into some bloodthirsty predator for a day or two, then what does that say for the rest of us? I really couldn't believe it when I found Kiera helping Ben kill. If he could convince her of all people to do it, I didn't see what was stopping him from eventually getting everyone else wrapped up in his mess. If it had been anyone else, I might have been able to let it go, but Kiera is like our rock. Before you, I'd call her for anything I needed that wasn't related to preventing exposure; from our own biological mess to anything regarding feelings. If it wasn't for the fact that she's so much of a loner most of the time, she probably would have been my SIC this entire time. I'm still glad it ended up being you, though."

Jondy blushed, but slid closer and wrapped her arms around him. Much to her surprise, he returned the gesture, squeezing her against him so tightly that she thought her ribs might crack. "I'm so sorry about Eva, Zack. I hope you can somehow put it behind you now."

His fingers entwined in her hair, and she knew that he was mentally shaking his head. "I'm not sure I can do that, but I'm glad you don't blame me."

She sat back again and returned her eyes to the fire. They sat in a comfortable silence for at least an hour before heading to bed. Jondy's bed was so big and fluffy that she wished he would just let her stay here forever. It was so strange to see the darker yet softer side of Zack. Knowing what he had been torturing himself with for so many years seemed to allow her to see straight into his head. Once again she was struck with how young he still was. Nineteen was much too young to have all this responsibility on his shoulders, but he had taken it out of guilt and had suffered through it without complaining to anyone. _The poor guy is nineteen going on ninety. I just hope he doesn't burn out too quickly, because I can't do this on my own._ She really hoped that day would never come.

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Author's Note 2: Please review!


	10. Isolation

Author's Note: Finally, I have everything done. I have a research paper to do yet, but we work on that in class so I have plenty of free time again at home. I am so sorry about how long this took! At least it shouldn't take very long next time. 

Disclaimer: Shayna and Kiera are the only ones who are mine, everything else belongs to people who are stupidly no longer using them.

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Family Relations

By Be Boring

****

Chapter 10: Isolation

Jondy felt completely rejuvenated after her first week of staying in the cabin. She and Zack went out for a walk nearly every day, despite the cold, and occasionally just jumped up into a tree to take a break. He had stockpiled the place with canned food, but she could make a fairly decent dinner out of it and they ate filling meals at least twice a day. She had gotten more sleep since they'd been here, but that worried her more than anything else. Even though she now felt peaceful and rested, she felt like the need to sleep should have gone away again by now, but by the time midnight rolled around she was ready to turn in for the night. She didn't say anything to Zack, but every now and then she felt a wave of dizziness come over her, and sometimes she even felt nauseous. Frequent headaches began to plague her as they entered the second week, and sometimes they would progress into migraines.

By the middle of the second week, she was sick and tired of it. The person nearest to them was Tinga, so she gave her big sister a call and described her symptoms. Tinga's reaction, however, didn't make much sense to her. "Do you feel really warm sometimes, but then it goes away quickly?"

"Yeah, but that's usually when Zack and I are sitting by the fire, so I assume that's what I'm feeling."

"I think you told me once, but you're a virgin, right?"

Jondy didn't see why that was relevant to the conversation. "Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"You've never really had, um, extenuating circumstances where that nearly changed?"

"Like what? I've never really had a boyfriend, and you know I'm too strong to be a rape victim. Where are you going with this?"

"Jondy, I want you to listen to me carefully. Go into your bedroom and stay there until I get there, do you understand? Oh, and could I talk to Zack before you hang up?"

She didn't see why not, so she shoved the cellphone into his hand and stalked to her bedroom. Why was Tinga being so damn mysterious? She listened through her door to Zack's occasional "Mm hmm," "Yeah," "Uh-huh," until he suddenly burst out in shock, "You're kidding, right?" She couldn't help herself, she had to push the door open a little bit to see more. Zack's eyes were wide as he listened to Tinga, then he groaned. "I'd wondered about how we'd deal with all that, but it never occurred to me that she's never had one before. I thought everyone had by now, so I just expected she'd tell me when she was due and I would go away until it was over. How soon can you be here?"

When he hung up the phone, she threw open the door in frustration. "What the hell is going on? Don't start tiptoeing around me, just tell me. Why does Tinga have to come out here? I didn't think anyone knew about this place."

"I had to tell her about it this time, and I know she won't tell anyone else. She told me that she ordered you stay in your bedroom, and I think that's a good idea right now, so get in there."

She planted her feet and crossed her arms firmly across her chest. "Not until you tell me what's going on."

He rolled his eyes and marched towards her to shove her into the bedroom. The strange thing was that she noticed him sniff the air gently once he was near her. "I'm hardly the person to talk to you about this, you need one of the girls for that. Before you ask, you have to know you're not getting anything out of me. It's just the way it is, and I'm sure you'll understand before too long."

"You can't just lock me in here," she shouted irritably as he shut the door behind her. She grabbed the knob and tried to open it again, but Zack was standing on the other side holding it shut. "I'm being treated like a damn animal," she grumbled as she walked over and plopped down on her bed. "This is ridiculous."

"It's not ridiculous, it's for your own good," he interjected from the other side of the door. She just stuck her tongue out in his general direction and lay down with a soft "hmmph!"

~~~~~

The next few hours passed far too slowly for her, especially since she had nothing to entertain her in the entire room. Sometimes she would shout out for Zack and hurl some insults at him, but he didn't reply and she soon gave up. Some more brief heat flashes like Tinga had asked about came over her, but they left as quickly as they came and fairly soon she didn't even notice them. She started to worry a little bit about what was going on. Was she sick and contagious? What other reason was there to separate her from Zack?

"Jondy, are you in there?" came Tinga's voice from the other side of the door.

Jondy rolled her eyes. "Where else would I be? What was the point of all this?" She just barely heard Zack whisper, "I hope you're wrong about this," when Tinga opened the door and came in. She smiled brightly, but it faded slightly at the annoyed look she got in response from her sister. 

"I know you're mad, but you won't be once I've explained all of this. Zack is going out for a while so I can talk to you without any interruptions, and without you getting too embarrassed over him knowing everything. Do you know how X5s go through puberty?"

That had to be the last thing she had expected to hear. "No, not really, I've never really thought about it. I should have gone through that by now though, right?"

"Apparently not, but I should have suspected it back when you first told me you were a virgin. You see, that's really not very common for us. In fact, you might be the only female virgin X5 out here. I really don't know how to explain this to you without saying it bluntly, but I'll try. We don't have menstrual cycles like ordinary women, we tend to take after our feline counterparts in that respect. We have reproductive processes like cats, not humans. Do you see what I'm getting at here?"

She sat there for a moment, hoping that her first thought was wrong. "Are you talking about a cat's heat cycles?"

"Good, I didn't have to say it straight out. Yes, I'm talking about heat cycles. If I'm right, you're about to have your first one, and believe me when I say you need someone here to keep an eye on you. The rest of your heat cycles will just be a couple days of a high sex drive like you would expect one to be, but the first one is usually a little sporadic. It's also quite a bit stronger, so I'm going to be here to basically hold you back. You'll get to the point where you will try to get to a town just so you can find a man, which is also why Zack is going to stay at a hotel until you're over it. You're lucky, you look so flushed right now that I think if I had gotten here much later you might have already gone after him."

Jondy couldn't imagine doing anything of the sort, but she figured that Tinga knew what she was talking about. "What do you mean by sporadic?"

"Well, instead of just having a steady cycle, it'll break into brief increments of a very strong heat, then there will be some time in between each of those where you'll be back to normal. The whole process can be a little overwhelming, and it's common to even self-inflict pain to try to snap yourself out of it, which is another reason why I need to be here. I don't want you to hurt yourself too badly."

It was overwhelming just hearing what was about to happen, she couldn't even imagine how it would be once she really started to feel it. "If there's no guys around, will it be as strong?"

"Yeah, unfortunately being away from any males doesn't make it much easier, it just makes you safer. I can tell you right now, heat cycles are awful unless you have someone around to help you take care of it. We didn't want to have to do that though, I think it's important for you to choose when you lose your virginity, especially when most of us didn't get that option."

"How long is this going to take, anyways?"

"Maybe four days at the most, but it will feel like a lot longer. Just relax, we'll have a long time to talk."

~~~~~

As the hours wore on, Jondy definitely started to notice some discomfort. Her body began to ache, and flashes of heat started to come more frequently. She eventually pulled off her sweatshirt and wandered around with just her tank top and jeans on despite the light draft that snuck in around the only window in the room. She did manage to keep up a regular and rather entertaining conversation with Tinga, even though her thoughts eventually began to wander. Memories of every good-looking man she'd ever met raced through her head, chasing one another around until a blur of six-packs and bulging biceps were dancing in front of her eyes rather than Tinga's face. Still, everything felt manageable and she didn't see what the big deal was. 

"Does Charlie know how young you are? You had to be only 16 or 17 when Case was born, and didn't you guys get married while you were still pregnant? Is that even legal?"

"I fudged my information a little bit. Charlie thinks I'm a few years older, but I don't see how that's such a big deal, especially when you take all my other secrets into consideration. It's so strange, it was like love at first sight when I saw him, but we didn't actually meet until my heat cycle. The great thing was that he's one of those guys who doesn't like one night stands, so we decided to try dating afterwards and as you can see it turned out really well. I think within three weeks of dating him I realized I was head over heels in love with him, and we actually said it to each other about a month later. He's such a romantic; he brings me a dozen roses on Valentine's Day along with a pile of chocolate, and I swear I can't see how we're not broke every time Christmas rolls around. Then there are the conversations we have. We can stay up all night long just talking about different things, whether they're really important or just gossip. I really hope it will always be like this."

"How did Zack take your marriage and son? That doesn't sound like something he'd agree to right away."

"Trust me, he didn't. We actually had screaming matches about it, even though he never resorted to violence to change my mind. As much as I loved Charlie was pretty much equal to how much Zack and I hated each other at that time. I was going through a really rebellious stage, and he was so sick and tired of dealing with me. He actually wanted me to get an abortion, but I wouldn't hear of it. The marriage was really the last straw, but Charlie and I did it as secretly as possible. Even Zack didn't get there until it was too late and he just had to live with it since I refused to leave my husband. He still doesn't like Charlie very much, but I think he has a warm spot for Case. When he visited me right after Case's birth, I woke up from one of my many naps to see him holding Case and just staring at him like he was fascinated. Ever since then he at least gives him a little smile every time he comes to visit. He really has a soft spot for kids even if he won't admit it. I never really thought I would like kids, but I guess things change when you have one of your own. I'm absolutely in love with my little boy, and I even kind of like the other kids at the babysitter's where I send him."

Jondy smiled a little. "Yeah, I really like kids too. In fact, I completely love them. When I was sent to the Casteau's, we were set up in rooms with five people. There were two older kids to act as parents, a middle child for help with chores, and two little kids. Victor wasn't a very good parenting partner since he was out screwing his girlfriend half the time, but Cassie, who was the middle child, and Jason and Mindy were wonderful. Cassie helped out with everything and wouldn't hesitate to do extra without anyone asking. Jason and Mindy always worked so hard to help out, but they couldn't really do much. Mindy was a very dreamy little girl, sometimes she would just sit there and stare at the floor and you knew that she was daydreaming about something that probably most of us couldn't even comprehend, and Jason was always sick. He always had a cold or the flu, and I swear he managed to get pneumonia every year. I really wish I could have taken him with me, because he's the one who will have the hardest time without me. Mindy can get along fine in her little dream world and Cassie has always been able to take care of herself, but Jason really depended on me. He had a hard time sleeping if I didn't tuck him in at night, and I was the only one who could calm him down after a nightmare. Every time he was sick, I would convince the Casteau's to let me stay home from school to sit by his bed, and that always seemed to help him recover faster. I couldn't have been any closer to him if he was my own son." She hadn't even noticed it, but a couple tears slid down her cheeks at the thought of the kids from her room. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed them.

"You'll be a really good mother someday, you already have that nurturing nature."

She groaned and twisted in her spot a little. Things were starting to feel more urgent. "Well, my body is saying I should go become a mother as soon as possible."

"Is it starting to get worse finally?"

"Finally? You make it sound like you were looking forward to it."

"It's just that the sooner this all starts, the sooner it will be over. I don't know how I'm going to explain this to Charlie when I get home. I suppose I could say I had a sister with a high fever, because that would fit pretty well."

"Very funny," Jondy grumbled. "Do we have some games around here? Maybe something like that would get my mind off this better."

Tinga nodded and headed to the living room, only to return with an armful of board games. "Let's see what I've got here. I dragged out everything I had from home, I hope Charlie doesn't notice. I have Monopoly, Life, Scrabble, Clue, a checkerboard with both checker and chess pieces, and a deck of cards. I also brought along this old Playstation that I stole from a dumpster when I was younger. It still works pretty well, and let me tell you that playing Mortal Kombat while you're in heat is a blast. It's kind of creepy to be turned on by a character in a game, but watching some muscle-bound ninjas kick the crap out of each other is such a turn on during a heat cycle."

"Let's start out with chess, I could use a challenge right now."

As they made their way through the pile of games, Jondy was finding it harder and harder to ignore the feverish power of her heat cycle. Learning how to play several different card games that she'd never even heard of before was a pretty good distraction, especially when she really threw herself into it and beat Tinga by a landslide. When they brought out the Playstation and started playing Mortal Kombat, Jondy occasionally had to dig her fingernails into the palms of her hands to try not to let her mind wander. After they'd been playing for about fifteen minutes, Tinga reached out and grabbed Jondy's wrist so hard that she swore she heard a crack. "What are you doing to yourself?"

Jondy was stunned to see blood trickling out of her clenched fist and sliding down her arm. She quickly opened her hand and saw the four deep cuts from her fingernails bleeding steadily. She didn't even need to look at her other hand, now that she was paying attention she could feel the warm wetness in her palm. "I didn't even know I was doing it," she said quietly, unable to figure out how she could have hurt herself without knowing it. After cleaning the cuts and wrapping her hands in some bandages, she returned and they started playing cards again on the floor next to the bed so that Tinga could see her hands at all times. An hour passed, then two, and Jondy finally began to feel that some of it was dying down. _Maybe I'll return to normal for a little while now, like Tinga said I would._ It was becoming so much easier to keep her mind on task, in fact, that she decided she would go take a bath. Tinga carefully inspected the bathroom to make sure there were no escape routes before she left her little sister alone, leaving Jondy very relieved. She loved her sister dearly, but spending several hours straight with no one other than her began to get tiring. Some alone time was really what she needed right now.

As she pulled off her clothing, she thought she detected a strange smell in the air. _No, that's not strange, I've smelled it before, _she thought with some frustration. Her mind was somewhat foggy, so she couldn't really place the scent even though she knew that she had smelled it several times before. However, she shrugged it off and slid into the bathtub, which was filled with steaming hot water. She wasn't sure whether she had made a good decision in using hot water, especially when her body nearly screamed out in agony at the shock of it, but she ignored any discomfort and closed her eyes.

By the next time her eyes slid open, she was no longer in the tub. From what she could see of the ceiling, she realized that it was her room. It took her a few minutes to collect her thoughts, and she was focusing most of them on how she had gotten here without waking up. _Wait a second, is that Zack's voice in the living room?_

"I don't think it's a good idea for me to be here, with everything as it is right now. You said she's okay, right?"

"For now, but what if she does it again? Zack, she doesn't even know she's hurting herself. I don't even think she felt the pain, otherwise I'm sure she would have cried out at the very least when she got into her bath. It was such hot water, that had to hurt."

"What was it she did to herself exactly? All you've told me was that she was bleeding."

Jondy didn't understand, what had happened? She hadn't hurt herself, she was perfectly fine other than her damn hormones. Perhaps she had hurt herself while getting out of the bathtub and she just didn't remember right now. Tinga quickly erased that theory from her mind though. "When we were playing cards, she was leaning back against the bed. I'm guessing you hid a knife under the mattress for protection, and either she knew it was there and did it deliberately or it was just an accident, but the tip of the knife was sticking out when she first sat down. She gave herself a gash that goes all the way up her back, and she deepened it when she stood back up. I was walking ahead of her on the way to the bathroom, so I didn't see it, and I couldn't smell the blood over her heat cycle. You know how much the pheromones cloud the air, even I can't smell through it even though it doesn't affect me. Then she started bleeding into the water, it was so lucky that I left my drink in the bathroom and went back to get it. I don't think she lost too much blood, but it really scared me. Zack, what if she hurts herself again? She can't help it, so it's not like she can stop herself. Short of handing her over to some strange man or locking her up in a padded room in a straight jacket, I don't know what to do."

"We're not handing her over to a stranger, and do you see any padded rooms around here? Look, I don't know what to do either, but I do know I'm not going to be able to leave. I realize it's not safe for me to be here, but we have to keep an eye on her so nothing like this happens again." Jondy couldn't keep following the conversation, her eyelids were starting to droop too far. How could she have done that to herself? Why couldn't she remember? All she knew now was that the loss of blood had worn her out.

~~~~~

When she woke up again, she realized it had to be noon of the next day. There was some movement in the kitchen, so she decided to brave the possibility of running into the Zack and walked out to see what it was. With her luck being what it was, of course it was Zack that she found in the kitchen. His back was to her as he made a grilled cheese sandwich on the stove, and it appeared that the sizzle of the butter in the pan was drowning out any noise she was making. _He must not expect me to be awake yet,_ she thought eagerly. 

Zack barely caught her movements out of the corner of his eye, but he wasn't quick enough to hold up his arms to block her. Instead, his arms only managed to get halfway up before she slid comfortably between them and urgently pulled his face down to hers. She hadn't done much kissing in her life, but it seemed to come naturally enough as she pushed him roughly against the counter. She slid her fingers up through his hair to hold him there, sensing his initial resistance. _He can't resist it for long, he's still a man. _To help him in his decision, she shoved him onto the counter and climbed up to be above him, pinning him down on its ice cold smoothness.

Suddenly, he reached up, grabbed her waist, and threw her as hard as he could. She yelped in pain as her back struck the opposite counter sharply and looked up in time to see Zack splashing water on his face from the sink. Stumbling towards the door in a sudden rush of rationality, she couldn't help but be astonished that Zack had hurt her, even though she understood that he didn't have much of a choice. What other options did he have to keep her off of him? Slowly but surely she made her way to her bedroom, just barely avoiding each wall as she approached them. She couldn't even let herself relax until she had shut her own door behind her and collapsed onto the bed.

Some footsteps on the other side of the door alerted her to the fact that Zack was there. "I'm so sorry, Jondy, I didn't want to hurt you. I just couldn't think of any other way to stop you, and I knew how horrible you would feel if we didn't stop."

She sighed. "Zack, you don't have to explain, I would have done the same thing if our roles were reversed. All the same, I think I'll just stay in here until this is over, okay?"

"Yeah, okay." His soft footsteps padding away were the last sounds she heard from him for the rest of the day.

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Author's Note 2: Please review!


	11. Letting Go

Disclaimer: Dark Angel is not my property, yadda yadda yadda.

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Family Relations

By Be Boring

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Chapter 11: Letting Go

Through the next couple of days, Jondy hardly moved from her bed. Tinga opened the door and set some food in a couple times a day, but she didn't come in to talk other than one time, where she explained what she had been doing when Jondy was shoving Zack onto the counter. Since they hadn't expected her to wake up for several hours, she had gone out for a walk and had probably been over a mile away when the incident happened. During her short periods of normalcy, Jondy had to press her face into her pillow to keep from looking at her own guilty face in the mirror. How could she have gone after Zack like that? She felt dirty, as though she had actually gone through with it, not to mention angry with herself. So much for self-control.

On what would have been the fourth day of her cycle, she started to notice longer gaps between her heat bursts. By the end of the day, there was well over five hours between them. The next morning, she climbed out of bed and walked into the kitchen. Tinga and Zack were sitting at the table, and they both looked up and froze when she entered the room. "Relax, I think it's over. I haven't felt anything all night."

Tinga stood up and walked over to her. "Are you sure? I don't think we want to take chances here."

"I'm pretty sure. Right now I just really want some breakfast."

They both sat down and a plate of eggs and bacon was pushed in front of her. She started devouring it as fast as she could, even though she sensed the tension in the air. Zack and Tinga both attempted a strained conversation with each other, but something was off. It took a minute for Jondy to figure it out, but when it hit her it was like a semi. Zack was uncomfortable being near her. Not that she blamed him, but she noticed him fidgeting nervously and glancing away every time her eyes landed on him. Somehow it made her feel even guiltier than before. They didn't even have to do anything and their cozy brother/sister relationship was shattered. She understood that there was no blood relationship between them, so it wouldn't have technically been wrong if they had slept together, but it completely ruined the ease they had with each other. 

As soon as Tinga left to go to the bathroom, Jondy knew she had to fix this immediately. "Zack, what happened the other day isn't going to change anything, is it?"

He shifted in his seat and folded his hands in front of him like he always did when he was trying to look more composed than he felt. "Why would it? We were out of control, it's not like it was something we really wanted. It was nobody's fault, and I think it's best just to forget it."

"If you want to forget it and act like normal, then why aren't you looking at me right now?"

He sighed and forced his eyes up to meet hers. For some reason the eye contact seemed to soothe him, because a small smile flitted across his face. "Like usual, I can't get anything past you. It's not what could have happened that scares me, it's what _did_ happen. I did something that I've never done before; I deliberately hurt one of you. I knew perfectly well that your back was already injured, but I threw you into that counter anyway. You may have thought that how you hit it was an accident, but I meant for you to land like that. I figured that was the only way to really deter you from me. I've never done anything like that before."

"Look, I'm not holding it against you, so there's no reason for you to blame yourself. I would have done the same thing."

"But I knew exactly what I was doing. It doesn't upset you at all that I could have possibly damaged you for a few weeks? That's what could have happened, you know. With the way you struck the counter, I could have damaged your spinal cord. Your body would have fixed that within a month, of course, but the fact remains that I tried to seriously hurt you. How can that not at least make you think twice about me?"

"Zack, I like to think I've gotten to know you really well in the last couple months, and I know you didn't aim to hurt me that badly. At the time you were just thinking of how you could possibly get me off of you, so you threw me. It didn't occur to you until later that anything really serious could have happened to me, but then you started to second guess your decision until you got to the point where you believed that you had set out for everything to go like it did. Now you're convinced that you are an unfit C.O. and that we'd all be better off without you, even though that's completely untrue. Does that sound about right?"

Now Zack was able to hold steadier eye contact with her without flinching. "Actually, yeah it does. You're a little creepy sometimes, you know that?"

She laughed and walked to the fridge to pour a glass of milk. "Glad to be of service, whether I'm creepy or not. So, where are we going next?"

"I was thinking that I'd take Tinga back home to help her with some concerns she has about Case's development and you could go check on Shayna. I don't think she's feeling well lately, but she refuses to even talk to me when I call her. I want you to see how she's doing. You don't know anything about what's wrong with her, do you?"

__

You mean other than the fact that she's a few months pregnant with a psycho's baby and she plans on completely destroying your reputation with the group? "No, I don't have any idea what's going on with her. I don't think she likes me very much. Why is Tinga worried about Case?"

"He's showing signs of advanced development and she's worried that Lydecker might come across him. It's hard to tell a boy that age to hide his skills though, he just doesn't understand that he can't let people know he's so smart. I remember all of you as young children, so she wants me to see how similar Case is to the rest of us. Even if he's half as good as us, it's going to raise some flags at Manticore. I'm hoping he's just a regular talented little boy. That was to be expected anyway with Tinga's genes in him, but you would think that Charlie's DNA would filter out a lot of the genetic engineering in his background. I guess I'll have to see him for myself."

"You've been to Tinga's home plenty of times and saw Case, wouldn't you have noticed it without her mentioning anything?"

Zack grimaced slightly and lowered his eyes to the table. "To tell you the truth, I try not to pay any attention to him at all. Sometimes I'll play with him a little bit just to humor Tinga, but for the most part I try not to notice him. He's a constant reminder of how hard it's going to be to keep everyone low. We're all adults, so we can manage fairly well, but kids tend to slip up. Some of the group is getting to a point where they are thinking about settling down, and that means more kids aren't too far into the future. Within the next few years it's only going to get worse, and by the time we're all almost thirty, I'm betting quite a few of us will have at least one child. The next ten years are going to be the hardest, because those children might display traits that will draw Manticore's attention and it's going to be next to impossible to keep everyone hidden. Our own flesh and blood could be taken away and used against us, have you even thought about that? What if in twenty years Case is caught and trained to be a soldier? It's very possible he could destroy all of us, he knows what most of us look like. He could even kill Tinga if his programming was powerful enough. The thought scares me sometimes."

Jondy felt chills race through her; Zack was right, the whole idea was really frightening. This also made her wonder what Shayna's baby was going to be like. Both its parents were quite a bit less than sane, and unlike Case, both its parents would be X5s. There wouldn't be any filtering, it would be a full second generation X5. Would there be something wrong with it? Would it be a killer like its father, or a damaged soul like its mother? How good of a mother would Shayna even be? Even worse, what would happen if Ben found out and became involved with his child's life? On one hand, he could completely annihilate any traces of the kid's sanity, and, on the other hand, having a son or daughter in his life might turn him around and make him somewhat normal. The whole thing was much better to not think about. "Then let's not even talk about it, okay? Let's just take each day as it comes and not look any farther than a year into the future, got it? I think I'll leave later for Shayna's." He didn't need to know that she'd just been there the other week. It seemed that Shayna was taking up a lot of her life lately.

~~~~~

Despite its comfortable appearance, Shayna's house appeared more formidable than ever. Its shadows seemed so much larger than they'd ever been before as she walked up the broken walkway to the front door. Why did the chills seem stronger than ever now? She shook off the eerie hold the house had on her and knocked on the door. It took a few moments, but Shayna reached her with a slightly disheveled appearance that threw off her usual beauty. "You're back already?" she almost gasped, staring at her younger sister with wide green eyes. 

__

What in the world has she been doing? Jondy wondered nervously. "Yeah, I guess I was just really worried about you after my last visit. You seemed so shaken up and I felt bad for leaving you here. Is it alright that I'm back?"

Shayna's eyes darted back and forth so quickly that Jondy wasn't sure she'd seen them move at all, then her face broke out into her usual, plastered-on smile. "Of course it's alright, I just wasn't expecting you so soon. Come on in."

They both headed for the living room, which Jondy realized that she had hardly spent any time in, and sat down on the couch while maintaining a comfortable distance from each other. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, Jondy's body tensed up so tightly that she thought a seizure might be coming. Yet, the tremors weren't starting. Something in the room was making her body react, but she couldn't tell just what it was. As Shayna started talking about what she had been doing since their last meeting and how she was feeling in spite of the pregnancy, Jondy started taking in every aspect of her surrounding area. It all looked so normal, but it couldn't be. Her body wouldn't do this for no reason. 

It took her almost ten minutes to see what she had failed to notice before. During all of her other visits, she had been mildly impressed by the level of neatness that she had seen in the front hall and Shayna's bedroom, but the kitchen, which she could see directly into from her position on the couch, was in a serious state of disarray. There was even what appeared to be a broken glass on the floor. Either salt or sugar had spilled from its container and had spread all over one of the counters. The final thing that made her realize something was very wrong was a tiny red stain on the edge of that same counter. _Shayna or whoever else was here hit that counter pretty hard. _It would certainly explain Shayna's wild appearance. 

Jondy finally had to break into the middle of Shayna's rant about how happy she was that the morning sickness was fading. "I hate to break in like this, but I need to make a call. Do you mind if I go into the back?"

Shayna seemed to glance around, but she nodded. "Go ahead, but you might be better off going outside. Reception isn't great in this house." 

Jondy shrugged and headed for Shayna's bedroom, taking a good glance into the kitchen along the way when Shayna wasn't looking. Upon closer inspection, she saw several more tiny red spots dotting the counters and walls. What had happened in there? Rather than walk all the way to Shayna's bedroom, she slid into the bathroom and headed for the tiny window. Peering through the blinds, she could see some movements in the brush around the house. There had to be at least ten soldiers on this side of the house alone. _God, Shayna didn't actually contact Manticore, did she?_ But she hadn't called either Jondy or Zack to lead them into a trap, so what was the point? Suddenly, the shower curtain rustled slightly. As fast as she could, Jondy whipped the curtain to the side to find herself face to face with Ben. 

"What are you doing here?" she hissed. 

He grabbed her arm, dragged her into the shower stall, and closed the curtain mere moments before a soldier popped his head up to look through the window. "I came to see Shayna once I found out where she was, and it's a good thing I showed up when I did. Apparently her boyfriend got a good look at her barcode the other day and was talking about it with his sister, who happens to be a scientist that distantly knew about the Manticore operation. Why didn't you tell me she was pregnant? I asked you how she was, why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't think it was something you needed to know, even though I figured out later that I was wrong. Does Manticore know you're here?"

He shook his head. "They have no clue, not even Shayna knows. I got here earlier this morning, but Shayna was sleeping so peacefully that I didn't want to wake her up. Then the soldiers showed up and I hid here. When you showed up, they all went into hiding to see who was visiting her. What are you doing here?"

"I needed to check up on her, especially in the condition she's in now. Did you know that she lied about her baby?"

"How so?" He stared at her blankly, obviously not understanding what she meant.

"She didn't tell us you were the father, she told us it was Zack." As his eyes widened in protest, Jondy held up a hand to silence him. "Apparently she was angry with Zack for separating the two of you, so she led me to believe that he had raped her and that the baby was his. She also made it sound like she wasn't nearly as far along as she really is, but it would have become obvious even if we hadn't figured it out. To tell you the truth, I was worried that once her plan backfired that she would contact Manticore and tell them everything she knows about Zack and I just for revenge. That's actually what I thought was going on when I showed up here."

Ben could only shake his head in disbelief. "Are you sure about all of that? Maybe she's just troubled and really believes what she's saying, because none of that sounds like her. I got to know her so well a few months ago, and I just can't believe she would do anything like that."

"Well, believe it. It's not important right now though, she didn't plan for this to happen. So, any brilliant ideas about how we're going to get out of this?"

He peered around the edge of the shower curtain. "Not really, we're completely outnumbered. Shayna's in no condition to get into a serious fight, and you and I won't be able to take them all out, especially since they're all armed with tasers. I don't know this area well enough to know how to sneak past them all."

A large crash and Shayna's shriek from the next room tossed aside any escape plans, sending both of them scrambling for the door. Jondy was the first into the hallway and could clearly see three soldiers struggling to drag Shayna towards her front door. Before Ben could follow her, she shoved her cell phone into his hands and forced him back into the bathroom. "They already know me, so it won't be as dangerous if they see me again, but they don't know what you look like yet. Call Zack and tell him we need him here as fast as he can make it. Just hit redial, he was the last number I called." Without giving him a chance to protest, she dashed into the front hallway where Shayna was putting up a larger fight than Jondy thought she had in her right now. None of the soldiers saw Jondy approach, and none of them knew what had hit them as they all collapsed from severe blows to their head. 

"Is there any way out of here that they won't know about?"

Shayna's eyes were wild with panic, and it didn't surprise Jondy when she shook her head. "No, they'd see us no matter where we tried to get out. My God, I should have listened to Zack when he told me it was dangerous to live with an ordinary man. Brandon didn't even mean to give me away, he had no idea what my barcode meant. No one is going to get here soon enough to help us, are they?"

Jondy knew it wasn't likely, but she forced a stiff smile and nodded. "Help will be on the way, don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you, I promise." How could she keep a promise like that when her instincts were telling her that they wouldn't be getting away this time?

A loud, commanding, and horribly familiar voice boomed from the front yard through a megaphone. "Come out of the house with your hands up, and neither one of you will be harmed. This can be done peacefully, without either side sustaining any injuries. I trained you to make good decisions, and coming out right now without a fight would fall under that category." Jondy suddenly wanted to run out and laugh right in Lydecker's face. _Neither side sustaining injuries?_ She looked down at the three limp bodies of the soldiers. _I think it's a little late for that._ Did he really think they were just going to go back to Manticore quietly? _Maybe he's getting senile in his old age._

Shayna looked absolutely terrified at the sound of Lydecker's voice. "Jondy, I don't want to go back there, please don't let them take me back," she whispered urgently. Jondy reached out and gave her hand a comforting squeeze.

"Don't worry, I won't leave you." She led her terrified older sister into the living room as Lydecker repeated his demands, sounding slightly more insistent this time. What were they going to do? _Oh no, I know where everyone is! What if they torture me for information? I don't think I could handle that._ Jondy's mind was racing now. She had been the quickest to repeat her barcode when that laser was fixed on her eye as a child, so how long would it take before Lydecker had all the information he needed to recapture all the X5s? Short of suicide, she only had one option left open to her, and that was to make herself forget. If she didn't remember anything, she couldn't say anything. 

Even as the soldiers forced their way into the house and grabbed a desperately battling Shayna, Jondy sat blankly on the couch, staring at the wall. The soldiers kept their distance from her, apparently unsettled by her lack of movement. She didn't hear Shayna screaming her name as they removed her from the house, nor did she notice Lydecker finally come in. He kneeled down in front of her, just out of her reach in case of a surprise attack. "210, look at me." She defiantly continued to stare at the wall, now aware he was here but refusing to acknowledge it. He frowned and repeated his command again, but she still refused to look at him. Finally, he gave a nod to one of the men, who turned his taser on her and fired. Jondy barely jumped, but she turned to make eye contact with Lydecker. An odd smile crossed her face, and she even managed a small laugh.

"I hardly remember you now, but I know you're going to ask me things that I'll never be capable of telling you."

Lydecker rocked back on his heels as his eyes widened with realization. "Can you tell me what that means?" he asked softly, sounding so paternal that Jondy's nearly erased mind wasn't sure why she saw him as an enemy.

She cocked her head to the side, feeling so confused. "I'm not sure, I think I made myself memorize it before I forgot everything else. What questions are you going to ask me?"

He sighed and rose back to his feet, once again nodding to his men. This time they carefully lifted her up and led her out to a large military truck where Shayna was already tranquilized and cuffed to a couple of thick rings attached to the side of the truck. Jondy sat down where she was directed to and watched with little interest as they cuffed her to another set of rings. Lydecker sent a strangely sad gaze in her direction, then left to sit in the front of the truck. Jondy's mind was completely swimming in confusion, but she knew that it was important for her to leave everything forgotten. After nearly an hour on the road, she finally allowed herself to slip into a deep, dreamless slumber.

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Author's Note: Please review! I don't care how small of a review it is, if you've reached this point of the page, please leave a review!


	12. Confusion

Disclaimer: DA is not owned by me. Enough said.

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Family Relations

By Be Boring

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Chapter 12: Confusion

Silence filled the dark, gray corridors of Manticore, seeming to echo with memories that were just out of Jondy's reach. The distant sound of stomping feet sometimes came to her, but she wasn't sure if it was really happening somewhere in the building or if she was remembering something. Every time she thought she felt a memory trying to push its way into her consciousness, she brutally forced it away. She couldn't remember why, but it was very important that she never recall her past while she was here. Lydecker had told her his name and the names of the others in her unit to try and force her memories to return, but she managed to keep them all at bay. The only certainty that she had now was that he could never find out what she used to know. Torture tactics were used twice, but if anything it seemed to make her mind regress further, so Lydecker quickly put a stop to that. His new method was trying to be as nice as possible to her so that she wasn't on guard and always trying to prevent her memories from coming back.

The only person that Jondy remembered was Shayna, but even details about her were gone. All that Jondy was left with was the knowledge that they were family and that Shayna was pregnant. Shayna had been taken for tests several times, but she caused such a ruckus when she couldn't see Jondy that the doctors all decided she was better off staying near her sister. Jondy knew they wanted that baby more than anything else, so they were willing to delay the reprogramming until Shayna gave birth. She didn't really know what they meant by reprogramming, but it didn't sound like anything positive. She was just happy to stay near the only person that she remembered who didn't appear to want to hurt her. 

Ever since their capture, Shayna became so quiet that Jondy often walked over to her to make sure that she was still breathing. A heavy feeling of misery hung in the air, and neither of them tried to lighten it. Why should they? What did they have to look forward to? Shayna was already dreading the day that she gave birth, for she knew they would take her baby and never let her see it again. 

"Even though I haven't given a lot of thought to how my baby is going to be raised, I know that I don't want his or her life to be like mine. Why should my baby have to grow up under the belief that they're good for nothing but fighting? I want my baby to be happy." Shayna seemed to have a great love for saying "my baby," because she said it at least five times every time she talked about her pregnancy. Her child was the most important thing to her now.

Right now Shayna was sleeping soundly again, which she always seemed to do for nearly half the day. Jondy's eyes rested on her thoughtfully. Shayna's stomach had grown so much, so how long had they actually been here? Their room had no windows, so Jondy had lost track of time long ago. Judging by Shayna's swollen belly, however, she would have to say they'd been trapped for about two months. Just the other day she had heard the doctors telling Lydecker that Shayna would give birth in about three months, and Jondy knew somehow that Shayna had been around four months pregnant when they were first captured. Where had the time gone? The days ran into each other until she wasn't sure whether it was night or day. Their food didn't seem to be on any schedule, it came when it came. Shayna often complained about the taste of hers, Manticore seemed to be putting vitamins in it to ensure that her baby was perfectly healthy. _They wouldn't want a sick lab rat now, would they?_ Jondy thought bitterly. She was also receiving drugs, but they were to keep her weak. She was still stronger than the average person, but she would be no match for a skillfully trained fighter.

As Jondy watched Shayna sleep, she heard the door open and the guard waddled in, practically balancing the large tray of food on his even larger stomach. She wasn't fooled though, he could draw his gun and fire a hole straight through an enemy's forehead before they had the chance to blink. She'd never actually seen him do it, but something about his movements convinced her he was capable of it. 

He kneeled down and placed Shayna's plate in front of her, but when he turned to Jondy, he simply gestured for her to get up. "The doctors want to fix some of your deficiencies before you're brought back into duty. You can eat once we're there." She nodded and followed him out the door, knowing perfectly well that there were soldiers lurking around every corner waiting to fire on her if she dared to make a wrong move, but how could she? With the drugs they were giving her, how much damage could she really cause before they stopped her? 

Each hallway forced new echoes into her head: echoes of children's voices, marching feet, and orders being barked out. Shaking her head viciously made them go away, but she was troubled all the same. Would she really be able to prevent herself from regaining her own memories? The mind was a complicated thing, there was no telling what could trigger her to remember something before she had the sense to force it away. At least the lab she was led to didn't seem to remind her of anything, which led her to believe that she had never been in this section of the building before. She sat down when the guard motioned for her to do so, but she only picked at her food when he set it down in front of her. She couldn't remember if she had anything that would be considered a deficiency, so she wasn't quite sure what they were going to do to her. 

Shortly after the guard left, a tall, lean man in a white coat walked in. Jondy's first thought was that he looked like a vampire of some sort, but an older one. He had to be in his forties, with his sleek black hair starting to gray around the edges and his sharp brown eyes that could hardly be distinguished from black beginning to show crow's feet at their sides. His cheekbones were extraordinarily high, and his face was so narrow that his chin nearly ended in a perfect point. He smiled a rather toothy grin at her and seated himself across the desk from her. "You must be X5-210?"

"So I've been told," Jondy grumbled in reply. He already made her uncomfortable, so she didn't want him thinking he could take his time with her. The faster they were done, the better.

He nodded as though her attitude came as no surprise to him. "You've been sent here to be cured of your seizures and heat cycles. Wouldn't that be nice?"

She shrugged. "I don't remember them, so I don't know if they were debilitating problems. How could I possibly know if it would be nicer without them?"

His eyes sparked with a little anger at her tone of voice, but it faded away quickly. "210, I am Dr. Martsloff, and I am one of the best doctors in this country. I think you can take my word for it that you'll be happier without your inconvenient problems, and I know for certain that they are, in fact, very debilitating. If you could remember what they were like, then you'd be thanking me for taking the time to see you right now."

"Because I'm sure you're so busy with Manticore letting you loose to share your X5 experience in all sorts of places, right?" she asked snidely, wishing he would just give her an injection or something, say everything was cured, and be done with it all. 

Dr. Martsloff suddenly smiled in a very friendly manner, but it didn't spread to his eyes. "My dear, I think I might ask to be the one in charge of your reprogramming, for then I would be able to use all my 'X5 experience' on _you_." The expression on his face gave her the feeling that his words didn't bode well for her. She remained silent as he turned around and opened a tiny refrigerator behind his desk and pulled out a couple syringes. "I'll have to give these to you an hour apart, otherwise you could have some nasty side effects. As it is, you aren't going to enjoy this process very much. 

Jondy stiffened as he approached her with one of the needles. "This will cure your seizures, but in the process you will more than likely go through several of them, perhaps even a grand mal seizure. You will be moved to a padded room where you will not stand a chance of hurting yourself or damaging anything, but even that doesn't prevent most of my patients from coming back out with some serious bruises. Follow me."

She followed him silently, wishing she was capable of telepathy just so he could see how much she hated him. At least Lydecker seemed to care in his own sick way, but to this man she was nothing more than a guinea pig for him to test his intelligence on. It wasn't the most wonderful feeling in the world. She started feeling even worse when she was led to a small square room that couldn't have been more than six feet long on the sides. The padding on the walls and even the floor made it appear even tinier, and the bland whiteness made her think that she was being led through a mental ward. Dr. Martsloff didn't give her too much time to think about it though, as soon as she was in the room he turned around and she felt the prick of the needle on her arm. Wearily, she looked down in time to see him empty the contents of the syringe directly into her bloodstream before removing the needle and leaving the room, locking the door behind himself.

__

How fast is this supposed to start? she wondered nervously. The mix of drugs in her body was altogether tiring, and she lowered herself to the floor to remove what felt like dead weight from her legs. As it turned out, it didn't take long at all for the new drug to kick in. Within fifteen minutes, her body was starting to shudder until she could no longer keep a good grip on her own knees and she ended up curling over onto her side. 

The room suddenly changed in front of her eyes, its walls transforming from their thick white padding to a fancy golden-flowered wallpaper. She glanced around in shock, unsure if this was just a hallucination or if it had actually happened. She found herself staring at a small bedroom with an even tinier connected bathroom just to her left. Lifting herself onto her feet nervously, she took a look around and realized she was standing at the foot of one of five twin beds. They were so tightly crammed together that she knew she wouldn't be able to walk between any of them without turning sideways. The beds all sat on the only carpeted area of the room, the rest was all linoleum. _How could I be back here?_ she thought in disbelief. How could she possibly be back in the Casteau mansion? Where was everyone? It was very rare that she was ever alone here. 

"Jason? Mindy?" she called softly. Where were they? She moved slowly to the door and peered out into the hallway. Was it longer than usual, or was she imagining things? Who was standing at the end of the hall? He was moving towards her slowly, pausing slightly at Kyle's door. 

"Shayna's in here," he said quietly. "Zack is being kept downstairs in the main office. Brin, Tinga, Zane, Krit, Syl, Blake, Max, and Kiera are waiting in the living room. They sent me up here to check on you."

__

What? "Ben, is that you?"

For some reason, he sat down Indian-style in the middle of the hallway. "Lydecker is in the kitchen preparing for guests. Dr. Martsloff was helping him, but the Blue Lady doesn't like him so she sent him away to be with the nomlies."

Her eyes wandered down the hall to the third room that was normally filled with children. "Who is in there?" she asked, pointing at the door.

Ben turned to follow the direction she was pointing. "I don't know, none of us has been able to unlock it. I think she's waiting for you."

"How do you know it's a 'she'?"

"The Blue Lady told me. She is very sad right now."

"The 'she' in there or the Blue Lady?"

"Both" was the simple answer she received. He looked so serene sitting in the hall like he was, but he didn't even notice the door of the third children's room open. One slender, delicate hand reached out of the doorway, holding a simple shotgun pointed uselessly at the other wall. A single gunshot rang out, but Jondy hadn't seen the trigger pulled. The gun fell from the hand, the sound of its landing muffled by the soft carpeting in the hallway. Ben raised a finger and pointed at Jondy. "Stop shaking now, you can't go in there."

Jondy just stared at him, confused by the urgency in his voice. Finally she followed his finger and gasped as she stared down at her own chest. Blood was practically spurting from a gunshot wound in the very center of her sternum, flooding down her front and pooling on the floor beneath her. "The Casteau's are going to be so mad," came a soft voice from behind her. She turned to see Jason standing behind her, staring at the blood as though it was hypnotic. "That will stain."

Cassie stepped out of the tiny bathroom and rushed forward with a towel in her hands. "I'll clean it," she said monotonously, her eyes gazing blankly into space as she reached Jondy and started pressing the towel against the wound on her chest. Jondy turned and looked helplessly back at Ben, who appeared to have moved several yards backward in the hall although he was still sitting in the exact same position. Why did he look so somber?

"Jondy, you have to stop shaking now. You can't go in to see her, but you need to stop shaking now." Jondy nodded helplessly, not sure how else she was supposed to respond to him. Suddenly, the Casteau mansion slipped away from in front of her eyes and changed back into the white padding that she had first been introduced to. She sat bolt upright, running her hands over her chest frantically to check for the wound that she still could see so clearly in her mind's eye. When her fingers found nothing but perfectly unharmed skin, she breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back against the soft wall. What had that dream been about? And most importantly, who were those people? She had recognized them all in the dream and had easily known who they all were, but now the only things she was left with were names and the knowledge of who three people were: Ben, Jason, and Cassie. The other names had all sounded familiar, but she couldn't bring any faces to mind. She could now vividly remember the Casteau mansion and the fact that she'd been unhappy there. 

The door opened before she could even try to place the names she remembered with faces, and Dr. Martsloff stepped in with a broad smile on his face. "Lydecker has been nearly clueless as to how he could break your spirit, which you have in stockpiles, I can tell. However, this next shot you'll be receiving gives us a window of opportunity to make you realize how much you should rely on us to keep you from being a victim to a very complicated body that you could never understand. Of course, we'll be deliberately placing you in this uncontrollable situation, but it will make you understand just how much you need us. We can make you so much better than the flawed being you were before. That's not to say you weren't a remarkable piece of science, but you can still be improved. You'll thank us when we've made you as perfect as you could be."

Jondy warily leaned away from him as he approached. "What do you mean by 'uncontrollable situation'. What is that shot going to do to me?"

"It's going to cure your heat cycles, but in much the same way that this last shot cured your seizures. Shortly after I leave, you will be receiving a visitor who will remain with you until the effects of the shot have worn off and you are fully cured. He will ensure that you are taken care of and will be more open to suggestions later when we finally have the opportunity to begin your reprogramming." With that said, he grabbed her arm and drained the fluid from the syringe into it. She glared up at him with the only defiance she had left, then flopped back against the wall in frustration. Who was the visitor they were sending in? As if he had heard her thoughts, Dr. Martsloff stated, "He will be here in a couple minutes. I suppose you'll be pretty happy to see him once he gets here."

Before he could shut the door, Jondy called out, "Do I know him?"

The doctor shrugged, but the smile never left his face. "Not that I'm aware of, but you'll get to know him pretty well."

__

Wait, what was that he said about this drug curing me the same way the other one did? For the second time in five minutes, she sat straight up so quickly that her vision blurred for a moment. Did Lydecker plan to let some strange X5 take advantage of her while she was in an induced heat? She scrambled to her feet desperately and rushed to the door, feeling so helpless as wild bursts of warmth started rippling through her. The drugs she was given daily would make her too weak to defend herself against another X5. She was hardly stronger than the average human. 

Nearly inaudible footsteps could be heard from the other side of the door, and Jondy knew her "visitor" was coming. A silent pause filled the air as he stopped just outside the door and waited for nearly another minute. Jondy could have sworn that she heard him sniff the air, which made her stomach curl up nervously. He wanted to make sure that she was ready for him when he entered the room. From the sound of it, the X5 was the only one in the hallway, there was too much silence for anyone else to be standing out there. _I don't need to be strong if I can catch him by surprise. Even a normal person could kill an X5 if pressure is applied correctly. If I can hit him in the nose just the right way, I might be able to kill him._ The thoughts were coming without giving her a chance to realize that her training was slowly coming back to her. It was almost like second nature to her.

Finally, the click of the door let her know that he was opening it. Her entire body tensed up as the door swung open and a very tall young man stepped in. Dr. Martsloff was right, he didn't seem familiar at all. Dark hair fell down in curls in front of his eyes, almost hiding the striking blue that nearly glowed from them. He was so tall that the top of her head only came up to his collarbone. _How in the world am I supposed to stop him?_ she thought in a panic. A slight smile flitted across his face, but it only made her stomach drop lower. It occurred to her that it would be a waste to kill him, he was just an innocent in all of this. He was only following orders. But how could she be expected to get away from him? 

Before he could reach behind himself to shut the door, she rushed forward and leapt straight into his arms, throwing him off balance and getting his mind as far from the door as possible in the only way she could think of. The moment his arms went around her and his lips pressed roughly onto hers, she knew she would have to end this quickly. She simply didn't have the willpower to fight him right now, and if she didn't do something to put a stop to it now, she never would. His fingers tore at her clothes so urgently that she started to doubt herself. Not only was she positive that she wasn't strong enough to get rid of him, but she also didn't really want to. She waited until he backed into the wall, still completely focused on her, then grabbed his hair and slammed his head so hard into the wall that he probably never knew what happened. He slumped to the floor and his head rolled to the side in such a way that she knew he wouldn't be getting up for a while. That had really just been a lucky move, it was the location of the blow rather than the force with which he had hit the wall that had knocked him out. She certainly wasn't strong enough to have knocked him unconscious in that manner out of sheer force. 

Jondy didn't even listen for guards, she just dashed into the hall and started looking for a place to hide. She was sure it wouldn't be long before a guard would come by to check on them and keep watch over the door. Actually, she couldn't believe one hadn't come along with the X5 to make sure nothing went wrong. It really wasn't like Manticore to slip up like that. 

If she hadn't been distracted by the hallway, she would have noticed the obviously broken leg that was at the far end, but she was more focused on the door that was only around five feet from it. She stood there in numb shock, not quite believing what she was seeing. The entire hallway was set up the same as her hallway back in the Casteau mansion. The door she had just exited from was in the same position as her old door, and the three remaining doors were positioned in the exact same way as the other two children's bedrooms and the linen closet. The first door on her right would have been Kyle's, a few feet further on the left side was the linen closet, and at the far end of the hall on the right was the door Ben had warned her against in the dream. 

Her stomach clenched up nervously as she approached the door. Why did it scare her so much? _It was just a damn dream, what am I freaking out about?_ she thought angrily. Finally, she reached out and grabbed the doorknob. Surprisingly, it turned easily and the door swung open. She stepped through the doorway and stared at the other side of the room, where a teenage girl was sitting on a dirty cot. She wasn't much older than Jondy, and she would have been stunningly beautiful with her long, sand-colored hair and brilliantly green eyes, but she was so thin and pale that Jondy couldn't believe she was still alive. She closely resembled a person with anorexia. 

"Who are you?" she asked softly after a short pause.

The girl smiled gently and shook her head. "I don't remember my name anymore. I don't even know what my barcode is. Can you read barcodes?"

Jondy shrugged. "I think so, but I'm not sure. Let me see."

She approached and the girl turned around on the cot to lift up her long hair and expose the barcode underneath. She had to stare at it for a second, then she smiled. "Yes, I see it now. I think I know how to read that, let me think for a moment." After almost a minute, she smiled again. "You're an X5 like me. You're 331065661766. Hey, haven't I seen that number before?"

The girl just shrugged and smiled back at her. "Do you know my name?"

Jondy could only stare at her. That barcode was definitely familiar, but should she really try to remember it? _Why not? I can forget it again later, but it will help her if I can let her know who she is._ Suddenly, the gunshot sounded in her head again and she saw that hand from her dream drop the gun again. She stared down at the girl's hands and was vaguely surprised to realize that they were identical to the one in her dream. That was when a name popped out of her mouth before she could hold it back or even think about it. "Eva?"

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Author's Note: Like always, please review!


	13. New Friend

Disclaimer: I think we all know that I don't own anybody.

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Family Relations

By Be Boring

****

Chapter 13: "New" Friend

"Eva?" Jondy asked, not sure where the name had come from. It didn't bring any face into her mind, but something told her that it was something big.

Eva smiled brightly, making her look several times healthier. "That's it! I remember them calling me that now."

Jondy knew she shouldn't ask, she wasn't supposed to remember anything, but her curiosity was killing her. "Who is 'them?'"

Eva looked up at her with some confusion. "Don't you remember? The others in the unit named me that, just like they named you. What's your name? Maybe I'll remember you."

"I'm Jondy," she replied, wondering if Eva even remembered her. From the look on her face, the name rang a bell but wasn't bringing any image to her mind. "Maybe you'd remember X5-210 better."

Recognition popped into her eyes and she nodded eagerly. "Yes, I remember you now. You still have the same eyes. I wouldn't have expected your hair to be that color though."

A quick memory of a barbershop flashed through Jondy's head. "That's because I dyed it." At the blank expression on her sister's face, Jondy explained, "I changed the color with some chemicals." Had she been this clueless about the real world after she'd gotten out? She couldn't remember, but she supposed she must have been.

"What about the others? Do they look the same, or have they changed their appearances too?" Eva looked so starved for information on the other X5s that Jondy felt bad for her, then guilty that she couldn't help her out.

"I don't know, I can't remember what any of them look like. Well, I do know what Ben looks like. His face is quite a bit narrower from when we were here, but that's probably true for all of us. His hair is a sandy color, and he's pretty tall. He must be around six feet." Her memories from the dream were vague now, so Ben's image wasn't so clear anymore. "I can't tell you much more than that."

"Which one was Ben? I have an easier time remembering numbers than names."

"He was 493." The designation came out so easily that it took Jondy a few moments to realize that she'd remembered something without meaning to. _I'll have to force that back out later, but right now I think Eva really needs to know as much as I can give her._ She didn't have any solid memories of the teenage girl sitting in front of her, but she automatically felt a deep respect for her, so she must have been someone important.

Eva smiled again, looking so thrilled that she seemed to be on the verge of tears. "Um, let's see if I can remember other numbers. What about 734?"

A young Asian girl's face popped up before Jondy's eyes, then smoothly transitioned into a late teenager's mischievously grinning face. What was her name though? "She hasn't changed much. I don't think she's done anything drastic to her appearance, so she's still pretty recognizable. I'm sorry I don't know more for you."

"That's alright, you've done a wonderful job already. It's the most I've heard about them in years. Do you remember anything about 830?"

The image of a stunningly beautiful young black woman with nearly black eyes came to mind. "I just remember that she's so gorgeous, I was really jealous of her. I think she may have had a boyfriend, but I'm not sure. I think I was pretty close to her."

"Then can you remember her name? Maybe your closeness will make it easier." Eva was nearly bouncing in her seat from excitement. It was obvious she had waited a long time to hear this kind of info.

"It was really pretty, it suited her nicely. Carrie, Tara, Sierra… no, those aren't right. Wait, it was Kiera!" Just the name brought feelings and memories flooding back to her in a rush that she couldn't block. "You'd be so proud of her, she's probably the smartest one out of all of us. I've never really seen her lose her temper, and she gives better advice than any psychiatrist. She was taking lots of biology classes like anatomy and physiology, neurobiology, and genetics as well as some veterinary courses so she could figure out our bodies. Whenever something was going wrong physically with any of us, she was the one to contact."

Eva raised an eyebrow. "Surely you didn't all know where to reach Kiera, that's not how we were trained."

Jondy shook her head. "No, we had someone in between. I think I knew how to reach her myself, because I can remember doing it, but everybody else had to go through another person to get help." Suddenly, a sharp pain tore through Jondy's head. Perhaps the heat drug was finally wearing off. In her excitement to see Eva, the induced heat her body was going through had been forgotten. While holding her throbbing head, Jondy declared, "I don't think I can talk much more, my head is killing me." The phrase appeared to confuse Eva, so she restated, "My head hurts badly." Eva then gave a nod of understanding.

"You talk so strangely now, with all these odd combinations of words that don't make any sense. I guess saying your head is 'killing you' makes a bit of sense, but it's not really killing you, so why would you say that?"

Jondy laughed in spite of the pain. "It's just one of those things you learn when you're not in Manticore."

The thudding of boot heels in the corridor made them both jump. "I'd better go before we're caught together," Jondy whispered, slipping to the door and peeking out. She could see a soldier's back approaching the room she was supposed to be in, so she slipped out and darted around the corner. How was she supposed to get back to her room with Shayna without being seen? Before she could decide which corridor to take, however, a hand fell onto her shoulder and she turned to see the soldier staring at her. He towered over her, standing at around six feet tall. Clear blue eyes remained fixed on her, setting off his blond hair that had several shades running through it, from dark to nearly white blond. He was quite a bit younger than the other soldiers she'd seen here, but his jaw line was stronger than theirs. She couldn't concentrate on him too well with her headache, but she guessed he was an X5.

"I don't know how you got out of there, but you'll have to go back to your own room now," he said, not seeming as concerned as she would have expected him to be at finding her where she wasn't supposed to be.

"Wasn't Dr. Martsloff going to see me again?" She would have thought he'd run some tests to make sure the drugs had worked.

"Not to my knowledge," the soldier replied, turning her to face the corridor to the right and giving her a slight push from behind to get her moving. She let him direct her all the way back to her own room before she spoke again.

"I suppose you'll be reporting me for wandering off," she commented dully.

He shrugged. "I don't see any reason to, you didn't get into any trouble."

She just turned to stare at him in disbelief. "But I knocked an X5 unconscious! Why would that be left unpunished?"

If anything, he looked amused at her reaction. "Do you want to be punished for knocking him out?"

"Of course not," she snapped. Why would she want to be punished?

"Then what are you complaining about? I would think you'd be happy to not get reprimanded. What were you in there for anyway?"

She didn't see how it was any of his business, but as another X5, he would at least understand what had happened. "I was being cured of my seizures and heat cycles. I guess you don't need to be told what the other X5 was for."

"No, I don't, but you took care of that right away, didn't you?" Why did he still look so amused?

"I haven't seen you around here before, so who are you?"

He waved a finger in front of her face and opened the door to her room. "You're too curious for your own good. Who I am is none of your business, but you may as well know I'll be bringing you your meals every day."

The sarcastic smile she shot at him was dripping with mock sweetness. "So I get to see you every day? Oh, joy." With that, she rolled her eyes and walked in to be by Shayna. Like usual, she was sleeping on her cot and not moving an inch, so Jondy took her customary spot sitting at the end of her own cot. When would she be able to see Eva again? She couldn't wait to talk to her again, she hadn't even found out what had happened to her in the years that she'd been in Manticore. Why was she in that room? Wouldn't Manticore have been using her for missions? If she felt so much personal respect for the girl, she must have been somebody important, so why wasn't Manticore using her? The only thing she could come up with was that they hadn't been able to reprogram her and decided to just lock her up. Even that didn't make much sense, but she couldn't think of any reason that Manticore would lock up an X5 like that.

* * *

The next morning, Jondy was forced into wakefulness when the soldier she had met the day before brought in her breakfast. He silently set down Shayna's tray behind her sleeping back, then moved over to Jondy. "You'll be starting your reprogramming today," he said quietly. "So you'll have to finish this quickly."

"I thought they weren't going to do that until the baby was born?"

The soldier cast a strange look in Shayna's direction. "They decided they'd have a better chance of getting answers out of you if you were completely under their control. Besides, a sedative has been put into her food so that she won't have much time to think about you being gone."

"How long will I be gone?"

He shrugged. "As long as it takes."

She took as much time as possible to finish her food, but he didn't try to hurry her along. For some reason, he looked a little sad every time his eyes landed on Shayna. When she'd finished the meal, he took the empty tray from her and gestured her to her feet. She followed him silently down the hall, wondering why he was acting so much more casual than the other soldiers that she was used to. "I hope they realize that if they plan on working on me as long as it takes, we'll be sitting in a little stone room for eternity."

To her surprise, the soldier smiled. "If you want a little bit of advice, don't stare directly at the words they show you. They're going to drug you, so you'll be open to suggestion, but don't let yourself focus on the words. I'll be in there too, but I don't know how much good I'll do you. I doubt if I'll even be in your line of vision."

Jondy halted dead in her tracks in the hall, studying him warily. "Why are you helping me? You're… you're not really a soldier here, are you? Does Manticore even know you're the one taking me everywhere?"

Half of his mouth lifted in a bemused smile. "The only person I need to watch out for is Lydecker, nobody else even suspects I'm here. You don't even know who I am, do you?"

"Not a clue."

Now the smile became complete. "You're the best possible person I could have chosen."

Could have chosen? What did he choose me for? She followed him cautiously into a dark room that held a white screen on one side, with a chair directly in front of it. Glancing up at the ceiling, she could see the projector, which was sitting on a base suspended three feet behind the chair, just enough for its images to clear her head on their way to the screen. The room only contained a few people, including three guards, Dr. Martsloff, and Colonel Lydecker.

Jondy's escort stepped behind one of the other guards when Lydecker stepped forward, holding out his hands with his palms facing upwards in a sign of welcome. "I know I planned for this to come later, but I simply couldn't wait. After the resilience you've shown, I realized that we needed that kind of loyalty on _our_ side, rather than on the side of our escapees. You will be a wonderful ally for us, especially once you've joined us and allow yourself to remember what you know about the others. I'm guessing you know quite a bit, judging by the effort you've put into keeping it all from us. Sit down, make yourself comfortable, and with any luck, this will all be over quickly."

Not wanting to appear too stubborn, she settled herself obediently into the chair in front of the screen, but she sent Dr. Martsloff a scathing glare along the way. She naturally hated Manticore and Lydecker, but that was for unknown reasons. At least she knew why she automatically despised the sleazy doctor in front of her. A self-satisfied smirk was all he would give back to her, then he approached her with yet another syringe in his hand. He plunged it into her arm, then stepped back so that Lydecker could pick up the controller for the projector.

"You've been away for a long time, but I'll bet that you remember a lot of what you're about to be shown. The first thing I want you to remember is that you wouldn't be what you are without Manticore, and it wouldn't be what it is without you…." As Lydecker's voice started to drone on with a strangely melodic ring to it, Jondy started to feel lightheaded. The words he was saying suddenly seemed to make so much sense, and when the word "OBEY" appeared on the screen in front of her, it remained imprinted in her mind. Suddenly, a movement to her right caught her eye. Her escort had moved his arm in a seemingly careless way, but it was enough to attract her attention and draw it away from the screen. When he was sure she was looking at him, he gave her an encouraging nod and she returned to looking at the screen, but this time she focused on the area just above the words, where the brightness kept her eyes locked. Hours dragged by as she tried to block out Lydecker's voice, and she glanced every now and then at the young man to her right just to keep herself going strong. _I am Jondy, Shayna is my sister, Ben is my brother, and the one who's with me now is also my brother._ She couldn't be sure about that, but it was a gut feeling. _Manticore will ruin my life, and if I remember anything, it will ruin the lives of my family. I have to stay strong for them._ Somehow telling herself these things while under the influence of the willpower-damaging drug made her resolve deeply strengthen.

Suddenly, her escort turned to look into the hallway, and when he turned back to face her he looked deeply concerned. Something was going on out in the hall that he didn't like. When their eyes met, she realized he was desperate to get into the hall. What had happened? Jondy's eyes roved frantically around the room, searching for anything that might be useful. That's when she noticed a cord running past her chair and traveling all the way to the wall. It was the extension cord that powered the projector. Listening carefully now to Lydecker's voice, she noted with a smile that he was standing about two feet behind her, so if she could get the projector to fall forward, she would be able to knock him out. Making sure no one was watching her, and none of them were because the monotony of the reprogramming had sent everyone into a deep stupor, she started inching her right foot towards the cord. She didn't hear the click of any of the guards readying their guns, so she was still good to go. When she had the cold cord trapped inside her curled toes, she started slowly pulling it towards her. Just when she had started wondering how far she would have to pull the cord, she heard the telltale _squeak_ of the projector sliding forward on its base. Nobody appeared to have heard it, so she pulled a little harder. After another, louder squeak, Lydecker paused in his seemingly endless lecture on what loyalty was and where her loyalties should lie.

Now or never, she thought eagerly, and gave the cord a vicious tug. The final scraping of the projector on its base made everyone turn to look, but Lydecker had no time to get out of the way. It came crashing down, impacting almost immediately with Lydecker's forehead. The guards all pulled their guns up and pointed them at her, but her escort was already behind them. He reached forward and pulled a handgun off the side of the nearest guard and shot him with it, then turned and shot the other closest guard. Dr. Martsloff was next, to Jondy's great relief, but a resounding _click_ echoed in the air as the X5 tried to fire at the last guard. The guard smiled and raised the much larger weapon in his hands, but the X5 rushed forward, flipped the gun in his hand so he was holding the barrel, and brought the butt down roughly on the guard's head.

Meanwhile, Jondy had gotten out of her seat and was checking Lydecker's pulse, disappointed to find him alive. "Are we going to finish him off?"

The other X5 shook his head and ran to the door, opening it and looking out. "He's the least of our worries right now. I think Manticore caught another one of us."

Jondy couldn't believe it. "Who? And how did they find out where they were?"

He pulled his head back in and looked like he wanted to sink straight down to the ground. "It's Kiera, that's who they caught. I thought it was her voice I heard, but I was really hoping I was wrong. I don't get it, you haven't told anyone about her, have you?"

Her face went dead white. She had been right before, it was pointless to keep Eva locked up instead of sending her out on missions. The truth was Eva _was_ on a mission. "You go after Kiera and get her out of here, I have something else to do. How do I get back to where you first found me?"

He looked confused, but he replied, "You go left out this door and go straight as far as you can go until you come to a corner where you can only take a right, take one more right after that, and then a left and you'll be down the corridor I found you in. Why are you going back there?"

"Don't worry about it, just get to Kiera." Without giving him a chance to protest, she headed straight out the door and started going left. The instructions were easy, it didn't take very long for her to be back in the corridor that reminded her so much of the Casteau mansion. She opened the first door on her left and entered, but it was now empty. Instead of leaving, however, she stood perfectly still and listened as hard as she could. After nearly a minute, she heard movement on the other side of the wall to her right. She pressed her ear against it, there was definitely someone back there. Someone was walking around the room that would have been Kyle's back at the mansion. That's when she noticed something about the wall in front of her. It wasn't extremely noticeable, but the brick looked slightly newer than the rest of the wall. Her fingers started running over it until she found a spot that her fingers could just barely slip into. Rather than open the hidden door, however, she hesitated. What was she planning to do once she was face to face with Eva? She was drugged, so she would be no good in a fight. Eva was reprogrammed and had had several years more training than Jondy. How did she stand a chance?

She started to look around the room, but the only object that held any potential was the bed. She hurried over to it and started feeling around. Her hand slipped under the mattress, and to her surprise, she pulled a metal bar back out that was the length of her arm. Had Eva been planning to attack her if things didn't go well yesterday? She gripped the bar in her hands for a moment, then stuck it under her shirt in the back. If she slid the upper half under the back of her bra and put the lower half under the elastic of the pants Manticore had given her, it would stay in place. As long as she kept her back away from Eva, she should be set.

An idea came to her so quickly that it was almost like someone had put it there. Instead of going through the hidden door, she headed back into the hallway and entered the other room from the hallway. Eva had been pacing the room, and she looked pretty shocked that Jondy had come in. "What are you doing here?"

Jondy let tears stream down her cheeks as she shut the door behind her. "They caught Kiera, and I just don't get why I'm so confused right now. I want her here with me, but something tells me that she shouldn't be here. I'm so confused because I know we all belong at Manticore, but there's a part of me that really wishes she hasn't been caught."

Eva knew perfectly well that Jondy had been "reprogrammed" today. A sympathetic look flashed over her face and she moved forward as if she was going to hug Jondy, then seemed to think better of it. "That's normal, you're caught between the truth of how things should be and how you believed things should be when you were in the outside world. Manticore made you see the truth, but you haven't had time to let it sink in and overwhelm the part of you that turned away from Manticore while you were away. It's all perfectly normal. After another reprogramming session, things should become much clearer for you."

Jondy found herself practically shaking with suppressed rage. This girl she had used to respect so much had lied straight to her face. Amazingly, she found herself smiling at her sister. "Oh, it's already clear to me what the truth is." When Eva turned to look at her curiously, Jondy pulled out the bar and swung it as hard as she could. She felt the metal connect with Eva's temple and her sister fell to the ground, but she slowly sat up again. Blood was flowing from the impact point on her head, and her eyes were slightly crossed. Jondy simply couldn't hold back her anger anymore. "You bitch, _you're_ the one who got Kiera caught! We both know she doesn't belong here, but you took information that I gave you in confidence and got her captured! I can't believe I was stupid enough to feel sorry for you!" She lashed out angrily and the metal bar came into contact with Eva's cheek this time. Why wasn't that self-assured look leaving her face?

"You'll regret this, Lydecker will make sure of it," Eva hissed. "We'll find Ben next, and eventually we'll get to all the others. They'll be back here where they belong, except for Zack, who will more than likely be killed because I doubt he'll ever allow himself to be reprogrammed, and I'll be CO like I was always meant to be. You can't stop that, no matter how hard you try."

Jondy's fingers tightened around the bar. "You're never going to be anyone's CO again." With that said, she brought the bar straight down. Once Eva was lying motionless on the ground, Jondy turned and vomited violently on the floor, dropping down onto all fours as her legs buckled. She had just killed her sister, how could she deal with that? It had been a moment of anger, combined with a refusal to let Eva's plans go through. What horrified her even more than what she'd just done was the effort put into tricking her into giving up the others' names. The last thing she had seen before being given the drug to cure her seizures had been a hallway that looked exactly like her wing at the Casteau mansion, which something in her mind must have picked up on because she dreamed about the mansion after she was given the drug. They had apparently planned to let her take out that X5 so that she'd go wandering into the hall, and they'd even put in a secret door between the two other rooms so that Eva could rush into whichever one it sounded like Jondy would be entering. Jondy had no doubt that Eva had been standing just on the other side of the door in place of Kyle's, listening intently to find out which one Jondy was going to enter. The only thing she didn't understand was Ben's role in her dream; how had he been able to warn her about Eva? Her only solution was that her own subconscious must have noticed something that gave everything away. Now that she thought about it, she should have found it suspicious that only Dr. Martsloff had been leading her to the padded room. Even with her being weak, it was still dangerous to leave an ordinary human alone with her. _It's even dangerous for an X5,_ she thought sadly, gazing down at Eva.

She merely stood there, staring at Eva's body for several minutes. Finally, she turned slowly toward the doorway. She had to get to Kiera now, and Shayna, if possible, and get them both out of there. Then she'd be able to remember everything safely.

* * *

Author's Note: I'm sorry for the long wait, but please review! I'll try to get the next one up faster, but it would nice to have some incentive. ;) (Someday someone will teach me what subtle means, but today is not that day.) I'm not so sure I like ff.net's new QuickEdit thing though, it doesn't let me put in my usual marks to indicate a break in time, I have to use their gray bar now. Oh well, I guess I'll adjust.


	14. Taking Care of Business

Author's Note: I really don't have any explanation for why this took so long, because I was really trying to get it done. I think my muse went on summer vacation too, because I could sit and stare at the computer screen forever and I just couldn't write the chapter. So, I'm really sorry for the long wait, and I can guarantee that it's not going to be this long for the next chapter, since I think my muse has come back to visit me again.

Disclaimer: I own a couple more characters in this chapter, but you'll have to read to find out who they are! Other than that, none of the others are mine.

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Family Relations

By Be Boring

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Chapter 14: Taking Care of Business

Why was everything so quiet? Jondy would have expected to hear gunshots and the shouts of guards into their walkie-talkies, but only silence filled the cold, gray stone corridors. She easily found her way back to the site of her "reprogramming," but no one was there. Even Lydecker was no longer lying on the floor, although she knew it was very possible that guards had rushed him to the infirmary. He wouldn't be recovering too quickly from a projector falling on his head. Where was everyone, though? _Did they capture that other X5, too? _she wondered nervously. Since she didn't know where to go to find Kiera, she snuck back to her cell with Shayna. She was sound asleep, but she hadn't touched her sedated food yet. As Jondy approached, Shayna's arm suddenly flew up and struck her in the face, sending her crashing to the ground.

"Dammit, Shayna, it's me!" Jondy snapped, rubbing her nose angrily.

Shayna sat up quickly and turned to face her, relief evident in her eyes. "I'm sorry, but there's been so much commotion in the halls that I didn't know who would be coming in. What's going on out there?"

Jondy stood up and dragged her sister to her feet. "They caught Kiera, and another X5 is here somewhere, but I can't remember who he is."

"I'd bet my whole fucked up life that it's Zack," Shayna commented as she followed Jondy into the hallway. "Who else would be able to get in after us?"

A brief flash of seeing Zack's barcode in the distance while Lydecker talked to her in the Casteau mansion popped into Jondy's mind, followed closely by an image of seeing him seizing on a rickety hotel bed and a faint memory of sitting with him by a fire in a very cozy little cabin. "You're right, that's who it is. I can't believe I didn't remember him right away. Wait, he said something to me about me being the best possible person he could have chosen. What did he choose me for?"

Shayna stopped abruptly, rubbing her stomach. She obviously didn't like running with her pregnant belly. "You're his second in command."

Suddenly, everything made so much more sense. _So that's why I forced myself to forget everything; if I was SIC, then I must have known where everybody was._ The only thing she didn't understand was how she had been caught. If she was the SIC, then wouldn't she have been able to get away before Lydecker caught her? _I guess Zack chose an incompetent person to work with,_ she thought sadly.

"What's that?" Shayna asked, reaching out a hand and grabbing Jondy's arm. Jondy tilted her head back and looked up at the ceiling. Instead of the usual silence, a faint echo of running footsteps filtered down from the floor above them. The footsteps were too light to be human, but it didn't sound like the way an X5 ordinarily ran either. Shayna had noticed it too. "Is someone injured?"

"I don't know, but let's get up there and see." They both took off down the hall, no longer caring if they were overheard. If they were right, then the Manticore guards were busy chasing an injured Zack or Kiera upstairs. As they climbed the nearest stairway, Jondy noticed a streak of blood on the railing. _Whose is that?_ she wondered nervously. Suddenly, a shout rang out through the hallway at the top of the stairs. "Get the hell away from him!" Then, Jondy heard the unmistakable sound of someone landing hard on the floor. When she finally was able to see everything, her stomach balled up tightly. Kiera was at the end of the hall in a fighting stance, standing in front of Zack, who was lying on the floor. His entire left leg was drenched in blood, quickly answering the question of where all the red smears on the floor had come from. Although he was facing their direction, Jondy doubted he had seen her and Shayna yet. In fact, it didn't look like he was seeing much of anything; his eyes were staring off into vacant space. Standing all around the duo were several armed guards, all of whom had their guns pointed at Kiera, but were obviously trying to get to Zack.

Shayna grabbed Jondy's arm again. "What are we going to do? You're drugged up and I'm not exactly in the best shape to fight a bunch of soldiers. How are we supposed to get rid of them?"

Jondy stared around frantically until her eyes landed on an open doorway across the hall. Judging by the three soldiers laying unconscious inside it, just next to a very shabby old cot, Jondy knew it had to be the cell Kiera had been locked in for a very short time, or at least where they had intended to lock her in. If the soldiers approaching Kiera were any indication, then the soldiers in that cell had to be armed as well. Holding her hand up to make sure Shayna stayed where she was, Jondy slid across the hallway and entered the cell. Just as she had expected, the soldiers were armed to their teeth in the newest models of high-powered handguns in circulation in the black market. She reached down and grabbed the guns off the two nearest soldiers and snuck back across the hall to Shayna.

"It doesn't really matter if you're not in the best shape to fight; if you can aim, you're set. Just try not to hit Kiera or Zack, if that wasn't obvious enough already."

Shayna nodded and clutched the weapon tightly in her hands, waiting for Jondy's signal. Jondy held out her hand with three fingers extended, then slowly pulled them in one by one as she counted down. The moment her hand was in a fist, it returned to the gun and they both stepped out into the corridor, weapons raised. Kiera just had time to throw herself on the ground and cover Zack as Jondy and Shayna fired away, taking out all the soldiers before they even had the chance to turn around. Jondy ran to the two on the ground, Shayna close behind her, and helped Kiera to her feet quickly before dropping down and feeling Zack's pulse. It was still strong, but he sure didn't look like it. Jondy's memories of Manticore's layout were very weak, but her orders came out so fast that at first she was surprised they were coming out of her mouth. "We'll go back down the hall until we hit the first intersection, then take a right. At the end of that hall is one of the huge windows that we love this place for. Once we're out, we'll be in the woods so we'll just run like hell until we hit the highway. It's about three miles away, but I know a place we can hide out when Manticore sends some teams out after us. As soon as it's safe, we'll see about hitching a ride."

Kiera stuck her head under Zack's left arm while Jondy took the right, then turned to her as Shayna led the way down the hall with her gun raised. "How do you know it's only three miles to the highway? And what hideout are you talking about?"

"It's the way I went when we escaped, and I estimated it to be about two and a half miles to the highway, but because I was only a kid then, I stretched the number out a little bit. It might actually be less for all we know, it was such a stressful day. After Max fell through the ice, I kept going until I thought Manticore was going to catch me, then I found a hole in the side of this huge hill. It's hard to get into, and it will be especially hard for Shayna, but it's well hidden. I only found it because I fell through it."

"Will we all fit?"

"It'll be tight, but we should make it. It's fairly big once you're inside." She looked ahead and smiled briefly when the window came into view. She couldn't hear anything, but she knew it couldn't be long before all the manpower in Manticore was after them. _How many X5s are still here?_ So far, she had only seen Eva, but there had to be more. So many hadn't even attempted to leave, not to mention the ones who were captured before they made it away. Eli, Vega, Prix, Mark, Jace, Rob, Glenn; any one of them could be in the building right now. She knew she hadn't even remembered all the names of the ones who hadn't escaped, so there was no telling how many X5s would be chasing them through the woods. She was surprised she had remembered everything she had. It seemed to be popping into her head against her will, perhaps because now she was in a position of authority and knew that Shayna, Kiera, and Zack were counting on her to make the decisions to get them out of here. She could have laughed; she had hardly any memories, but because she was SIC they were automatically looking to her for leadership since Zack was so badly injured. Actually, she had assumed the role as well, no one had asked her to lead them. _Maybe I should let Kiera make the decisions until I've remembered everything._

Kiera was the first to go out the window, shattering glass everywhere, then she stood waiting as they dropped Zack down to her. Jondy felt deeply unsettled by the silence, why hadn't the soldiers set up a perimeter around the building? This didn't feel like standard operating procedure to her. Shayna gingerly stepped through the broken window and delicately jumped down to Kiera next, landing awkwardly but safely. Jondy leapt down quickly, not landing as comfortably as she would have without the drugs, but well enough to not break any bones. Three stories was quite the drop.

It wasn't until they had entered the trees and could see the perimeter fence in the distance that they heard the marching feet of many soldiers coming out of Manticore. "Just keep going," Jondy whispered. "They're not going to shoot us when we have a pregnant X5, the injured C.O., and the SIC all in one group. They'll try and capture us first."

"What am I, chopped liver?" Kiera quipped as she helped Jondy drag Zack along. He seemed to be looking around, but at the same time he didn't appear to be fully conscious.

Jondy glanced back over her shoulder at the approaching soldiers, watching them branch out as they headed to surround the foursome. "So, just what happened to Zack?"

"Well, everything was going good as he knocked out all my guards and unlocked my cell, but one of them must have managed to tip off some others because they showed up when we were trying to get back to you guys. They took us by surprise and shot Zack in the leg a couple times, so we had no choice but to go back upstairs. You two showed up not too long after that. Are you sure they won't shoot us? They already shot Zack, and there's nothing saying that they couldn't shoot us in the arm or leg just to slow us down. Just because they're not shooting to kill doesn't mean they won't be shooting."

Jondy looked up at Shayna, who had drifted far enough ahead of them to be out of earshot. "I know that, but I don't want Shayna to panic. I just said that crap before to keep from worrying her. With any luck, shooting will be their last resort anyway. Do we really look all that dangerous right now? You're the most threatening out of all of us, but you're helping me carry someone else, so you're a little preoccupied. I think unless we seriously fight back, the worst we'll have to deal with is tasers."

"Are you saying that if they try to capture us, we're just supposed to go without a fight?"

"No, but we'll wait to seriously fight until then. Look, I know it's risky, but we're not exactly prepared to make a powerful offensive move. For now, we have to remain defensive."

They managed to reach the perimeter fence without the soldiers making a move, but Jondy knew that wouldn't last long. They wouldn't accept letting their targets get over the fence. Kiera jumped over first, and that was when the first taser was fired. Jondy's entire body snapped like she had been hit with a bat, pain shooting through her from the very center of her back. _Just ignore it, it will take at least five tasers to stop you. At least get Zack and Shayna over the fence._ She stepped behind a tree quickly so the taser's contact with her was broken, then rushed to Zack's side again. "Zack, can you hear me?" When he turned blearily towards her, she whispered urgently, "You're going to have to help us a little bit here. If Shayna and I give you a boost, can you jump over the fence? We'll do most of the work, but you can't just go limp in midair." He nodded slowly, placing one hand carefully on her shoulder and the other on Shayna's. Both girls leaned down and cupped their hands as he struggled to get his feet into the footholds they had made for him. Despite his blood loss, he managed to prepare himself fairly well for the leap. When Jondy and Shayna threw him upwards, he did manage to push against their hands and give himself a little extra spring, clearing the fence easily and landing roughly next to Kiera, who caught him before his legs gave out beneath him.

As Jondy kneeled down and cupped her hands for Shayna, two more tasers hit her in the back, and three more hit Shayna. "Go!" Jondy yelled, putting all her strength into propelling Shayna into the air. Shayna's landing was just as awkward as before, but she immediately turned around. "Jondy, jump!" she shouted, pulling out her gun from the waistline of her pants and firing into the woods at one of the soldiers who was keeping his taser on Jondy. With one less taser plaguing her, Jondy jumped as hard as she could, suddenly sure there was no way she would make it. With the drugs in her system, how could she be expected to do something that was difficult enough when she was a perfectly healthy child? Perhaps it was the adrenaline rush that came with the urgency of their situation, but she surprised even herself with how easily she made it over the fence. _Maybe the drugs are wearing off a little bit. _Before she had even hit the ground, Shayna and Kiera were pulling Zack through the woods and out of sight of the soldiers. Before running after them, Jondy turned to survey the scene behind her. Everyone was swarming towards the fence, preparing to fire at her again to keep her from running off, but they weren't the ones who had caught her eye. At the angle she was standing, she could see straight through to Manticore, and three people had just come out of it that made her heart stop.

Unlike the other soldiers, these three were dressed completely in black, and they were several years younger than all the others. In fact, they were merely teenagers, but Jondy still recognized them from when they were children. The first, a tall young man with skin even darker than Kiera's, but with hair still in its old buzz cut, was undoubtedly Prix. He didn't look anything like the quiet, shy, soft-spoken child he used to be. Perhaps his mild mannerisms were the reason he couldn't escape with them that night, he was simply too scared to do anything that went against Manticore. Now his eyes were hardened and the shy smile was gone that he used to have whenever one of them quietly congratulated him on doing a good job during a training session. They loved congratulating him just because they loved that smile, but now Jondy couldn't see any evidence that he had smiled like that since they were kids. The young woman behind him was extremely tall, the top of her head perfectly even with her brother's. Her long black hair was pulled into a low ponytail at the base of her neck and her dark eyes were scanning the trees. How could that be anyone other than Jace? Then there was the last X5. She was the shortest of the three, the others towered over her by at least five inches. She was a sharp contrast to them, with chin-length blond hair and piercing blue eyes that Jondy could just barely see from her distance. Her small, lean frame wasn't much different from when she was a child, so she was easily recognizable as Vega.

"Jondy, come on!" Kiera called from somewhere in the trees. Jondy turned and ran towards her voice, her body tensing as she heard gunfire ring through the air behind her. Once she was deep in the trees, she could see Kiera and Shayna shuffling along as fast as they could, Kiera glancing back every few seconds as she looked for her. "What took you so long?" she hissed once Jondy was close enough.

"I saw Prix, Jace, and Vega come out of Manticore. It's not going to be long until they're on top of us. How long do you think we can keep going like this before we have to stop?"

Kiera shrugged the best she could with Zack's heavy arm draped across her shoulders. "I think if you take over Shayna's side of Zack, then we can go for a while. I hope they don't catch us too fast, I'd rather confront them when we're not so close to the herd of normal soldiers."

Jondy replaced Shayna on Zack's left side and they started heading due east, not even bothering to cover their tracks. With Zack's blood everywhere, what was the point of trying to sneak away? Their only hope was to get as far as they could now. Jondy doubted they would even be able to use her hill hideout, the blood trail would lead the other X5s straight to it. Suddenly, Jondy stopped in her tracks, forcing Kiera to stop before they stretched Zack out too much. Jondy pulled off the long-sleeved gray shirt Manticore had given her, leaving only a very simple tank top underneath. "Help me get his pants off," she said quickly, propping Zack up against a tree. The expression on his face became a little bit confused, but he didn't seem to care much about what they were doing. Once Jondy had the blood-soaked pants in her hands, she used some of the few dry patches to mop up the lower half of his left leg before she wrapped her shirt tightly around his thigh to cover up the three bullet wounds just under the bottom of his boxers. She brought her left arm up, signaled for them to head slightly northeast, and whispered, "Cover your tracks the best you can. You'll have to curve back in about a mile so that you can get back on track, and it won't be far to the hill. It's pretty easy to see, but you'll have to look around for the opening." Then she turned and continued in the direction they had already been going, making sure to get a little bit of blood out of Zack's left pant leg every so often and knocking down a fair amount of brush as she went along.

By the time she had gone a quarter of a mile, she was pretty satisfied with the trail she had left. She backtracked several yards and moved off to the side of her trail, kneeling behind a large collection of brush. It wasn't long before Vega came down the trail, her hand on the gun at her side as she walked. She could see Jace ten yards on the other side of the trail, staying hidden in the trees, which meant that Prix had to be somewhere behind her. Sure enough, she could hear his footsteps not far behind her, but he was moving along at the same steady yet wary pace that Vega and Jace were going. As soon as the trio had passed her by, Jondy carefully rose to her feet and slowly followed them, making sure to keep a good distance. She finally stopped when she knew they would be spotting the end of the trail; she didn't want to be too close when they started branching out again.

Vega was the first to notice the end of the trail, and she stopped so suddenly that Jace and Prix wandered nearly twenty yards ahead before they realized that she had stopped. She started signaling immediately, ordering Jace to go to the north and Prix to go to the south. When the two had taken off, Vega continued going forward. Jondy knew her first priority was to get Jace heading in a different direction, she would be sure to run across Shayna, Zack, and Kiera. Once Vega was out of sight, Jondy slipped across her own trail and took off after Jace, hoping she wasn't making too much noise. Now she had definitely noticed that the drugs were wearing off, she felt as if she could punch a hole through any tree nearby. She hadn't felt this strong ever since she had been brought back to Manticore.

Suddenly, Jace came to a stop and turned around. Jondy froze, half-hidden by a large bush. She was also in the shadow of a large tree, so she remained perfectly still. Even when Jace started looking in her direction suspiciously, she refused to move. She waited patiently as the other X5 approached slowly, her hand lowering to rest on the gun at her side. Jondy's hand was also moving towards her gun, but she didn't really want to use it. Killing Eva had been different, Eva had deeply betrayed her. But Jace was just doing her job. To her this was a simple matter of collecting lost merchandise, she wasn't thinking of it as forcing her brother and sisters into a life that was basically servitude. Jondy couldn't just kill her.

The click of a gun behind her finally made her spin around, only to find herself staring into the barrel of a gun. At the other end of the gun was Vega, not looking even remotely sisterly. "I've been following you for the last five minutes. Did you really think you could trick us like that?"

"Not really," Jondy replied, shrugging unconcernedly. Before Vega could do anything, Jondy pulled her gun out and fired at Vega's kneecap, knowing she had to have shattered it as Vega leapt backward, grabbing the nearest tree and holding her leg up to examine it. Suddenly, Jondy was tackled hard from behind and sent straight into the ground. She threw her elbow back and forced it hard into Jace's nose, then pushed off the ground and rolled over so she was above her sister. She jumped to her feet and kicked Jace in the throat as she started to get back up. Vega was already reaching for her gun, and Jace was quickly getting her breath back, struggling through her choking. Jondy knew she wouldn't stand a chance against both of them, even with Vega seriously injured. She took off running to the south, ignoring the fact that she would eventually run into Prix. The only thing that mattered was steering them away from the others.

She soon heard Jace chasing after her, but she thought she heard Vega going the other way. At least she was noisy with her injury, Kiera and Shayna would be able to hear her coming a mile away. If Shayna could hide Zack, Kiera would be able to knock Vega out before she could alert everyone else which direction they were heading in.

Jace's footsteps sped up, but Jondy kept her pace steady. She could hear the other woman well enough, she would be able to defend herself if Jace made the first move. Finally, she heard Prix's movements up ahead. He had apparently heard them running through the woods, and was now heading straight for them. Jondy waited until she heard the click of Prix's gun before she threw herself to the ground. When the bullet flew over her, she had to look back and watch Jace hit the ground. _Don't let her be dead. Even if she is working with Manticore, I don't want her to die._ She rushed to her sister's side, vaguely aware of Prix rushing toward them. She sighed with relief when she saw that the bullet had only hit her in the shoulder. It must have scared her, because she went over backwards and hit her head on a rock on the ground. She was breathing steadily, and her wound wasn't anywhere near fatal.

"Put your hands on your head and stand up slowly," came a deep voice from behind Jondy. She obediently placed her hands on the back of her head where Prix could see them clearly and rose to her feet as slow as she possibly could, then carefully turned around. Her brother's eyes flashed down to see Jace's chest rising and falling steadily, then returned to Jondy's face. "Where are the others?"

"Prix, you know I'm not going to tell you that. Do you really think I would give them up?"

"It would be better for all of them. 599 is severely injured, 608 is pregnant, and 830 could put her skills into something better than that feeble laboratory she was working at. Even you would be happier here. You could use your skills for a good purpose. What can you possibly do with yourself in that filthy world without discipline?"

Jondy glared at him, wishing she could make him see how wrong he was. "I can live my own life how I choose. Who says I can't find ways to use my skills? There's always a way, and if I choose to, I can find it. _Shayna_, because I refuse to call her by that number Manticore forced on her, would much rather have her baby where she can raise it herself. Manticore will never let her do that. Kiera was perfectly happy with her life, even though it will have to change now that you know where she was living. Zack can be taken care of by others, and you can be damn sure he's happier outside of here. What I don't see is how you can stay in a life of complete servitude, unable to use any of your own free will."

"We're soldiers, we are meant to follow orders." Now Prix's golden brown eyes were narrowing in what he seemed to feel was justified anger.

She matched him glare for glare. "Maybe that's how you're choosing to live your life, but the rest of us decided on a different path. I loved you so much when we were kids, I still do as a matter of fact, but if you force me to go back there, not to mention making the others go back, I will hate you. That's not even a strong enough word. I will absolutely despise you. Perhaps _loath_ is a better word. Do you want that? I understand you feel the need to stay here, but I don't. You can always lie to Lydecker and tell him that I overpowered you. I'll even hit you as hard as I can so you can go back with some proof. All that matters is that you let me go. Do you have enough free will to do that?"

"I would be betraying my superiors."

"No, you would simply be listening to me. _I_ would be the one betraying your superiors. Please, Prix, just let me go."

He studied her hard for a moment, then lowered his gun and nodded. "Fine, but get out of here fast."

She nodded and gratefully and walked in his direction. When he stiffened and raised his weapon again, she held up both hands. "Whoa, I just need to go in this direction." He nodded again and stepped back, letting her continue south. Once she was level with him, she turned on her heel and flung her gun at him, striking him square in the forehead. He dropped to the ground, then lay there breathing slowly. She reached down and picked up her gun again. "Sorry, big brother, but you would have followed me. It's too bad you're so loyal to Manticore." With that said, she turned to the northeast and started running. She eventually passed Vega's unconscious body, bleeding slightly from the temple. It looked as though she had been hit with the tree branch that was lying a few feet away.

When the hill finally came into view, she smiled as she heard hushed voices. Shayna's was easily recognizable, then Kiera's. They just seemed to be talking comfortably, so she approached casually. She crossed over the top, smiling again when the voices stopped abruptly beneath her. "Easy, you guys, it's just me," she murmured softly, moving down to the nearly invisible opening. Kiera's head popped out and she smiled with relief up at her younger sister.

"We were really worried about you. Actually we were just talking about moving on without you, but I'm glad we didn't. Are you sure the others didn't follow you?"

"I'm positive. They're all currently knocked out, so I'm not too worried. You're right though, we should be moving out soon. As soon as they wake up, they'll start tracking me, and I want to reach the highway before they catch up to us. We're already about halfway there, so this last bit should be easy without a bunch of X5s on our tails. What happened with Vega?"

Kiera pulled Zack out through the hole, then helped Shayna squeeze her swollen belly through. "Actually, Zack's the one who knocked her out. Shayna needed to take a break, so we set Zack against a tree and sat down so she could rest. Vega came right up behind us without us hearing her, which is surprising given what bad shape her leg was in. I think she was about to attack me, but Zack popped up behind her and hit her over the head before she could do anything. It wore him out though, he's been sleeping ever since."

"Well, I can help you carry him. Let's get going." Things moved much faster now that they were heading straight in the direction they wanted to go. Zack woke up a couple times, but he didn't say anything, and was soon out again. Jondy grinned at Kiera as the sounds of vehicles roaring past on the highway reached their ears. "Zack's not going to be too happy when he wakes up completely and I tell him that I left his pants somewhere in the woods outside Manticore." Kiera offered a brief grin, then gritted her teeth again as they dragged Zack towards the road, now in sight just ahead.

Shayna turned towards them as they approached the ditch. "Won't we be easy to track if we hitch a ride? If Manticore starts asking around, it's not going to take long to find out who picked up a bleeding man with no pants, a pregnant girl, and two other teenage girls. This is a lot of exposure."

Jondy shrugged as they finally set Zack down on the ground. "I don't see how we have much choice. I'd rather have a shot at getting away than get caught so close to Manticore. Wait, what's that?" A large black truck was slowing down and pulling over on the side of the road near them, but none of them was even signaling for anyone to pull over.

A large grin broke out on Shayna's face. "It's Ben!" she cried excitedly, hurrying towards the truck. Sure enough, Ben was sitting in the driver's seat. Kiera and Jondy pulled Zack into the back of the truck as Shayna crawled into the passenger seat. Jondy reached over and opened the window that led into the cabin of the truck. "How did you know where to find us?"

He looked back at her as he pulled back out onto the road. "I didn't, I've just been circling Manticore in different vehicles ever since I dropped Zack off. What happened to him?"

Jondy sighed and flopped out next to Zack while Kiera did the same on his other side. "It's a long story."

Zack's head slowly turned to the side as his eyes opened, focusing unclearly on her. "Are we … out?"

She smiled and nodded to him. "Don't worry, Zack, it's all taken care of."


	15. Revelations

Author's Note: See? I made it in less than a month. :) I have a little announcement to make that I have to share because I'm so happy. We've got a little baby horse! She was born on Friday, and she's the prettiest little thing ever. The only thing left is to come up with a name for her. I'll let you know once we've got one. :) I just love her! I tried to put some pics of her up, but this site isn't letting me do that, so go to my bio and click on my homepage where I have some links to pics of her if you want to see.

Disclaimer: I don't own anybody, but that wasn't by my own choice.

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Family Relations

By Be Boring

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Chapter 15: Revelations

It was nearly noon by the time Jondy woke up the next day. It was easily the best night's sleep she had ever gotten, and she knew why. There could be no safer place than where she was now, especially with four other X5s in the house. It seemed that Zack owned a safe house in Osage, Wyoming, and had stayed there with Ben until he found an opening to sneak into Manticore. It was a pretty nice place, too. She couldn't imagine who had needed this house built, there were seven bedrooms altogether; three on the first floor, four on the second. Jondy had picked out the smallest yet most comfortable room out of all of them on the second floor, and for the moment she simply couldn't imagine ever getting out of that bed. Kiera and Zack were both downstairs, and Ben and Shayna had both picked upstairs rooms near Jondy. Actually, it had been Shayna's choice to be near Jondy, their time in Manticore had brought them a lot closer. Ben had asked endless questions about the baby, asking both Shayna and Jondy about what Manticore had done during the pregnancy.

Zack hadn't fully woken up ever since they had arrived at the safe house, but Kiera assured everyone that he was going to be fine. The serious bleeding had stopped while they were hiding in the little hole in the side of the hill. Now she said he was just recovering at his own pace, but that he would probably be wide awake within twenty-four hours. She couldn't wait, because she knew he could fill in the gaps in her memory. She remembered odd things here and there, but even the basics about how her life had been going were a mystery to her. Hardly anything about her time as SIC had come back to her, so she didn't even really remember the details about Zack. What about the X5s she had been helping him keep an eye on? She didn't remember much about any of them except for a vague image of what they looked like.

"Rise and shine!" an eager voice exclaimed from the doorway. Shayna was standing there, smiling brightly with her hands on her stomach. "The baby's really moving today, more than it ever used to. Wanna feel?"

Jondy grinned and sat up, holding out a hand as Shayna approached. That was one thing that had worried her about their stay at Manticore; the baby hardly ever moved. Maybe Shayna's stress was carrying over to him or her, because it hardly ever kicked. Now Jondy eagerly but gently placed her hand on Shayna's belly, grinning again when she felt the powerful kicks of the tiny baby. "What do you hope it is? Do you want a boy or a girl?"

Shayna sat down on the bed next to Jondy and looked down at her stomach happily. "I really want a little girl. I know a lot of women say that, but that's what I want. And I really hope she looks like a little female version of Ben. That would make me happier than anything else."

Jondy knew that was asking a lot, but she hoped Shayna got her wish. She had missed Tinga's pregnancy, so it was good to be with another sister through hers. Suddenly, what Shayna had said really settled in. A little female version of Ben. She had forgotten about Ben being the father of the baby. _Wait, why do I remember something else?_ "Shayna, had you told me someone else was the father?"

She blushed and stared at the floor. "Yeah, when you first found out I was pregnant, I told you that Zack was the father." She broke off, refusing to look Jondy in the eye. Now it was coming back to her. Shayna had made it sound like Zack raped her after finding out she was living with an ordinary man without his permission. She didn't fully remember what the reasoning had been behind it, but she knew it had something to do with Shayna being angry about her unwilling separation from Ben.

Seeing the guilty look on her sister's face, Jondy gently patted the wriggling baby. "Don't worry about it, I think I already knew you were lying. And if you're wondering, I won't hold it against you. We have too much to be thankful for right now to worry about all that crap."

Shayna's relief showed clearly on her glowing face. As she left and Jondy started getting dressed, she realized that since now Shayna was free, she had quickly developed that glow most mothers are supposed to have. In her opinion, Shayna had never looked more beautiful than she did right now, even with the appearance of having a basketball shoved up her shirt. When she had finished changing, she rushed downstairs for something to eat. Kiera chuckled from the table when she rushed into the kitchen. "I thought you didn't sleep?"

"I guess I had to catch up eventually," Jondy retorted playfully as she grabbed the box of doughnuts on the counter. "Who got these?"

"I sent Ben for them this morning. You're actually the last person to wake up, even Zack woke up over two hours ago."

Jondy perked up at this news. "Really? Is it okay if I go in and talk to him for a while?"

Kiera shrugged. "Sure, if you want. He's a little crabby right now, but I suppose I would be too if I had just lost practically half the blood in my body."

She smiled slightly and strode off to Zack's room with three doughnuts in her hand. When she knocked on his door, she heard a familiar grunt of permission that she knew he had given her before, even if she didn't remember any particular incidents. It generally meant that he would allow you to be by him, but he didn't really want you to be. As soon as she had stepped through the doorway, however, he seemed to brighten up. "I wondered when you would be in to see me. I figured I would wake up with you sitting next to me, seeing as how you don't sleep."

She blushed and sat down in a tattered recliner that had been dragged next to the bed. "I guess I needed my sleep, because I just woke up. How are you feeling?"

"Fine, I guess. I'm just relieved we're all out of there." He hesitated for a moment, then offered a smile that warmed her completely. She could sense a compliment coming already, even though with Zack she instinctively knew that his praise tended to come as a bit of a surprise. "You did a great job out there. Kiera told me all about it, and I remember a little bit too. To tell you the truth, the only thing I clearly remember is you ordering Kiera to help you take my pants off. Embarrassing, but effective."

Jondy flashed a grin at the faint blush in his cheeks. "Wouldn't Lydecker flip if he saw surveillance of me depantsing you?" He glared at her with some embarrassed indignation, but reluctantly smiled back. She decided now was as good a time as any to start filling in her memories. "I need to ask you about a lot of things, and I'm pretty sure you've already thought over what you'll tell me and what you would rather have me remember on my own. First thing's first, why did you pick me to be your SIC?"

Zack stared steadily into her eyes, and she had to look away to keep from blushing at the affection that was in his. "After how you handled everything after I was injured, you shouldn't even have to ask, but of course you know I'm going to tell you anyway. I was going through a rough patch with everybody, and I had just taken you away from the Casteau's. Ben royally pissed me off, so I cut him off. Told him if he needed help, he would need to take care of it on his own. Shayna was living with somebody and was refusing to move, and Kiera had just majorly disappointed me. I decided I needed somebody to help me keep everyone happy, which happens to _not_ be one of my many talents. Because you reminded me so much of Eva, I decided there was no one I'd rather have as my SIC than you. Any questions so far?"

He didn't press anything, due to the fact that her eyes were darting back and forth rapidly as memories flashed through her head. It was like she was watching a slide show, everything was choppy and disjointed, but she knew the basics of what was going on. At the mention of Ben and Kiera, she remembered immediately that Ben had convinced her to kill with him. He had done it before with Shayna, which resulted in her pregnancy after they became caught up in the moment after the kill. It wasn't that that was disturbing her, though. It was the memory of Zack's story about Eva. She hadn't died when Lydecker shot her—which of course Jondy already knew without remembering the story—and had tried to escape a second time with Zack. When her body gave out, she ordered him to go on ahead. He believed she had died after he left, but Jondy knew better. "Zack, there's something you really need to know. It's about Eva."

That obviously took Zack by surprise. "What about her?"

"It's not your fault she's dead, it's mine."

Now he straightened up in the bed, staring at her with a firm expression of disbelief on his face. "That's ridiculous, you weren't even there when we tried to make a run for it."

"I know that, but she didn't die then. I don't know if they managed to shoot her again, or if it was just a warning shot you heard then, but Eva didn't die that day. I saw her when we were in Manticore."

"If she didn't die, then why are you saying her death is your fault?"

She glared at him, apparently putting enough emotion into her eyes to silence him, because he leaned back against the headboard and didn't make another peep. "Would you just let me finish?" He nodded, now looking concerned at the guilt in her eyes. "I was coming out of the room where she was when you found me for the first time and walked me back to my room. She acted like she was a prisoner there, and she managed to make me talk about some of the X5s. I didn't remember much, of course, but I remembered some stuff about Kiera. That's how they were able to find her. She seemed so happy to see one of us again, that I just didn't see through it. After we stopped my reprogramming and you went for Kiera, I knew she had lied to me and I went to confront her. We had a bit of a fight, and she made me so angry about the way she was talking that I got a little too enthusiastic with the bar I had found. I…" She broke off, feeling like if she said another word, she would burst into tears.

To her surprise, Zack scooted over a little on the bed and motioned for her to come up by him. She hurried to sit next to him, and he gently pulled her against him in a tight hug. Without warning, the tears flooded out of her and she turned to bury her face in his shoulder. He didn't do anything to stop her, in fact, he rubbed her back comfortingly as she sobbed. "I-I killed her, Zack, and I didn't have to!" she cried, her voice muffled against his shoulder. "It was so stupid, why didn't I just knock her out? Why did I kill her?"

"Shhhh," Zack whispered, still rubbing her back soothingly. "It wasn't your fault. I know you would never intentionally hurt an X5 more than was necessary. Before you start arguing, Jace, Prix, and Vega _were_ necessary. Even Eva was necessary, and perhaps it's better this way."

Jondy sat back so quickly that she nearly toppled off the bed. "How can you say that? How could it be better with Eva dead?"

He reached out quickly and grabbed her hand, squeezing it gently but firmly enough so that she couldn't pull it away. "I think once they've been there so long, it would take something drastic to change their minds about where they want to be. Eva was reprogrammed to be faithful to Manticore, which I'm sure was a difficult task for them. It probably took them weeks to break her, which was my fault. I shouldn't have left her all those years ago." As Jondy opened her mouth to protest, he held up a hand sternly enough to stop her. "I let you talk when you wanted to, now give me my turn. What happened so long ago is over, and there's nothing we can do about it now. I'm sure Eva was quite an asset to Manticore. Look at how she convinced you to give up Kiera's location. If they had sent any of the others in there, you wouldn't have given that up. She was dangerous to us, you have to understand that. I didn't want her to die any more than you did, but it's over now, and at least she's not serving Manticore anymore. The real Eva would have wanted that."

Jondy threw herself forward again, forcing him to make a soft "oomph!" as she collided with him in another hug. He squeezed her tightly, and she couldn't help being so grateful for his words. Just like nobody but Eva would have been able to make her compromise the escapees, nobody but Zack would have been able to comfort her like this. Zack didn't say things to make you feel better, he simply told you the truth, so she knew he considered every last word he'd just said to her to be true. Suddenly, with the need she had to make him realize how much she appreciated his comfort, she did something that she probably never would have done otherwise. She tilted her head back from his shoulder, reached up, and pressed her lips very gently against his. For a moment, she leaned forward and deepened the kiss, feeling encouraged by the fact that he wasn't pushing her away, then sat back up very quickly. He was giving her a somewhat quizzical look, but then he turned and looked over her shoulder. Jondy turned around to see Kiera standing in the doorway, carrying a plate of ham and cheese sandwiches. "Sorry to interrupt, but I thought you'd want some lunch." She walked over and set the plate down on Zack's lap, then hurried straight back out.

Jondy scrambled off the bed, suddenly extremely self-conscious. She couldn't believe she had actually kissed Zack. What was she thinking? He was her brother for Christ's sake! "Um, I think I'll go out and have some lunch," she stammered, then rushed out after Kiera, leaving her three uneaten doughnuts completely forgotten on Zack's bed. Kiera was in the kitchen again, pacing back and forth slowly. She looked up when Jondy came in, then straightened up and placed her hands on her hips.

"I know it's not my place to ask, but what was that about?"

She blushed so deeply that she was sure it was showing through even her hair. "I told Zack something that happened in Manticore that upset me, and I guess he comforted me well enough that I just had to show him how grateful I was. It wasn't what you think."

"So you're telling me you didn't just kiss Zack?"

"Well, I did _that_," Jondy grumbled, hating that she couldn't seem to say what she meant. "It's just that it wasn't a _romantic_ kiss. I was just thanking him for making me feel better. I guess I overdid it a little bit."

Suddenly, Kiera smiled and sat down at the table. "You seem a little too defensive for it to just have been a 'thank you' kiss. Are you sure you don't have feelings for Zack?"

Jondy plopped down at the table, nearly knocking her chair over. "_Feelings?_ No! That's ridiculous, he's my—"

"Jondy, you know as well as I do that he's _not_ your brother. There's nothing wrong about it if you feel something more than a sister's love for him."

Now she was just looking for an excuse to curb Kiera's sudden enthusiasm. "But, he's too _old _for me! I'm just sixteen, that's illegal."

Kiera rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair, slowly taking in Jondy's extremely flustered appearance. "Who cares anymore? Twelve-year-olds are prostitutes in broad daylight these days, do you really think anybody's going to care about you two? I would have more reservations about this if you had the mentality of a sixteen-year-old, but you don't. You're extremely mature, and so is Zack. The way I see it, there's nothing stopping—"

Jondy held up both hands automatically, standing up and stepping away from the table. "For both our sakes, just stop right now. You're reading too much into a little kiss, and you're making me more than a little uncomfortable. Whatever my feelings are, they're _my_ feelings, and I'll deal with them as I see fit."

"Are you admitting…?"

"I'm not admitting anything, I'm just stating the facts. All my feelings, no matter what they're about, are my business, and I'd really appreciate you not digging into them." With that, she pivoted on her heel and headed straight upstairs. Right now she just didn't want to deal with anybody, no matter who it was. Ben was insane, Shayna could sometimes be nauseating in her excitement—even though Jondy understood why she was excited about the baby, Kiera was infuriatingly nosy, and Zack was…complicated. She was embarrassed more than anything. She'd gotten carried away with her gratitude, and now she had Kiera on her heels and probably had confused Zack like all hell. Was he going to think she had feelings for him now too? The question that bugged her even more than that was did she have them?

Jondy stayed in her room for several hours, not even bothering to answer when Kiera knocked on the door later that evening and told her that supper was ready. She couldn't confront everybody, not right now. After a while, a tentative knock sounded on her door. "Come in," she called out in resignation. She would have to talk to somebody soon, she couldn't stay locked up forever. To her surprise, when the door opened, it was Ben. He smiled sheepishly and edged his way into the room, not opening the door very far. She couldn't tell if it was out of instinct or if he just didn't want anyone to know he was coming to talk to her.

"How are you doing?" he asked quietly. "I didn't get around to asking you last night, what with all my questions about the baby and all. Are you okay?"

She sighed and sat up on her bed, gesturing for him to come sit by her. "I'm fine, thanks for asking. I almost thought you hadn't noticed I was there." She was teasing, but only half-heartedly. She just wasn't in the mood to joke around. Had that kiss upset her that damn much?

"I'm sorry for not paying more attention. I never got around to thanking you either. You have no idea how much I appreciate you taking care of Shayna like you did. I know Zack's going to separate us soon enough, but I'm glad she's alright. I'm sure her pregnancy will go a lot smoother now that she's out of Manticore. Are you sure you're okay? You're hardly paying any attention to anything I'm saying, and even though I don't really know you that well, that doesn't quite seem like you."

It wasn't that she hadn't been paying attention, it was more that he was sparking off memories of her last encounter with him. "Ben, are you really going to keep killing? You have a baby on the way, do you really want his or her image of you to be as a killer?"

The question caught him off guard, but he shrugged. "I think if they know about the Blue Lady, it will be fine. They'll understand."

"Do you still really believe that stuff? Ben, you made her up. You of all people should know that, you must remember coming up with all those intricate details you gave us. Do you expect us to believe that something just told you those details? The teeth, the Nomlies, the Good Place, don't you even remember making those up?"

He was obviously offended by what she was saying, but her actions with Shayna seemed to be enough to spare her his full anger for now. "Maybe we shouldn't talk about this, it's not going to do either of us any good. You know as well as I do how things are going to play out once Zack's healthy enough to leave here. Kiera and Shayna will be set up with new locations, neither of which will be given to me, and I'll be sent my merry way. Zack isn't going to forgive me for what I've done, and he's not going to bring me back into the fold. As far as he's concerned, I'm a liability and I can't be trusted."

"Can you really blame him for thinking that? As much as I don't want to be as strict as Zack, I agree with him. Until you've stopped killing, you're not safe enough for any of us to be around. The only reason he used you to help him this time is because he knew you would focus on the job at hand because Shayna was in there. Am I right?" How did she know that? How did she know why Zack allowed Ben to take part in the rescue mission? _I guess I just know him that well._

He shrugged, leaning his weight down on one hand like he was preparing to get up. "Probably, but I won't pretend to know how Zack's mind works. If you don't mind, I'm going to go check on Shayna." Before she could even say goodnight, he was out the door. _There you go, offending him when you know this is one of the last times you'll get to see him. Real smooth, Jondy, just perfect._

She waited at least another hour, then decided to go down and grab something to eat. She hadn't gotten around to eating anything all day, and now she was regretting not eating those doughnuts earlier when she'd had the chance. Silence greeted her as she climbed down the stairs, but when she approached the kitchen, she could hear someone rattling around. Why were they being so noisy? That was easily answered. It wasn't like Zack was the king of grace with his injured leg. He spun around quickly when she walked in, guiltily holding the box of doughnuts. She suspected that he'd managed to empty out the rest of them. "I didn't think anybody was still up," he grumbled uncomfortably, quickly setting the box back on the counter.

"I just thought I'd get something to eat. I guess I wasn't the only one who was hungry."

He picked up the box again and held it out to her. "I didn't get around to eating the last one before you came in. You can have it."

She walked forward and took the box from him, pulling out the last doughnut. It wasn't bad for being the last, it was completely covered in chocolate and she was sure it was cream-filled. After she had it in her hands, she backed up so she could lean on the counter across the room from him. "So, how does your leg feel?"

"Not bad, but I feel like I've been hit by a truck. How are you doing? Kiera told me you spent the entire day up in your room. Did it have to do with what happened when you visited me earlier?"

She blushed and looked away. "Yeah, I guess I was a little embarrassed. I just got too excited, I guess. Sorry if I surprised you."

"Don't be, it's okay. Other than sending Kiera off on a tangent, it wasn't that big of a deal. I know what you were trying to express. I'm just glad I cheered you up, you seemed pretty down."

Relieved that he had blown off the kiss so easily, although also a little upset in the back of her mind, she took a bite of the doughnut. _Wow, hunger really is the best seasoning._ Nothing had ever tasted better, except perhaps her first chicken dinner she'd had when Zack had taken her away from the Casteau's. A faint smile must have broken out on her face at the memory, because Zack asked, "What are you thinking about?"

She blushed again and quickly swallowed her mouthful of doughnut. "Nothing much, it's just that memories pop into my head every now and then and it's almost like seeing them for the first time. Don't worry, I'm having good memories right now."

"About what?"

"You." The word was out of her mouth before she could stop it, but she looked up quickly to see his reaction. It had taken him by surprise, but then he smiled. "As long as I'm part of the good memories, I won't complain." They stood in comfortable silence on opposite sides of the kitchen while Jondy finished eating, but before she could say goodnight and head up to bed, he managed a strange sort of hobble to get over to her. "Wait, I wanted to do something before you went to bed. I know I'm going out on a limb here, but I figure if I don't do it now, I'll never have the guts to."

Jondy looked up at him in confusion, but he ended that quickly. He moved a hand around to the back of her head and gently pulled her toward him, then leaned down and kissed her softly. At first, her whole body stiffened in panic. What had she put into motion when she'd kissed him earlier? Then, she just didn't care. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, returning the kiss hesitantly, then more boldly. Being this close to him was more intense than she had expected it to be, but she didn't mind. It was just so comfortable, like coming home for the first time in years and finding it as warm and welcoming as when you'd left it.

He had pulled her against him without her even noticing, but then suddenly his leg decided it wasn't going to put up with much more of this. Zack's body suddenly sank several inches as the leg simply gave out, and he just barely managed to catch himself. She took his elbow and helped him back up properly, then silently walked him to his room. She assumed his silence was out of embarrassment, he had completely just put the moves on his SIC. After she had him settled into the bed, she leaned forward so that she was right in front of him. "Zack?" she whispered, making him finally look up at her. She leaned in farther and kissed him again, much differently than she had earlier that day. It didn't last exceptionally long, but it made a deep impact on both of them. She finally pulled back and smiled at him. "I guess I just wanted to say goodnight."

When Zack finally managed to whisper back, "'Night," she gave his hand a gentle squeeze and headed back upstairs. As she neared her bedroom, her head was such a mix of feelings that she wasn't sure what to do. On one hand, a part of her was happier than she'd ever been. She had feelings that weren't quite sisterly for Zack, and he seemed to feel the same way. That was good, wasn't it? On the other hand, she felt like she'd just opened Pandora's Box. _What have I started?_


	16. Pulling Rank

Author's Note: Hey, I updated in a week! Things will start coming a lot faster now, because my muse has finally woken up. I just hope it keeps up.

Disclaimer: I don't own a damn thing except the clothes on my back.

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Family Relations

By Be Boring

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Chapter 16: Pulling Rank

When Jondy came down for breakfast at 9:00 the next day, Zack was already sitting at the table with a bowl of oatmeal in front of him that he was eyeing doubtfully. He looked up and smiled when she came in, then glanced back down at his bowl. "Shayna insisted on making it for me, but I don't think she knows I'm not a fan of oatmeal. I guess I'll have to eat it sooner or later, no one went out for doughnuts today."

Jondy sat down across from him. "Where is everyone? Kiera's usually the one I see down here."

"She's sleeping in today. So is Shayna, actually. She went for a nap on the couch, and she's been out like a log ever since. Ben has been in and out, but he's been spending a lot of time in the basement. I think he just likes that it's cooler down there."

She got up and opened the fridge, but there was hardly anything there. "I guess it's oatmeal for me, too."

Zack shoved his bowl away. "No, why don't you go out and get something to eat? Bring something back, while you're at it. I just don't think I'll be able to get this down. There's some money in my jacket in my room, maybe bring back more doughnuts, or even muffins. Sound good?"

"Better than oatmeal," she replied with a roll of her eyes. She was glad things were comfortable between them, she hadn't been sure about how things would go after last night. Maybe the fact that everything had been mutual made a difference. They both knew there was something sitting just beneath the surface, but right now just wasn't the time to expand on that. She went and got the money, then headed out. Osage was an extremely tiny town, but there was a good enough bakery in the back of their gas station. She picked up a few doughnuts and some muffins, surprised at just how large they were. They were somewhere around the size of a softball.

"Excuse me," she asked the teenage girl behind the counter. "Is there any place around here where I could get my hair cut? I've been looking for a new style."

The girl glanced at Jondy's hair. "Are you sure? I really like the style you have now, do you really want to change it?"

"Yeah, I'm getting bored with it. So, do you know of anybody?"

The girl pulled out a pad of paper and started scribbling down an address. "Yeah, my aunt is a beautician. She can do anything you want, she's completely overloaded with supplies that she's never going to get to use. She lives just on the other side of town, not that it's a long walk, and it's really easy to spot her house. It's freshly painted light blue, and it's the only one that looks like it isn't falling apart. You'll find it easily enough." She ripped off the strip of paper and set it down on the counter.

Jondy smiled as she picked up the paper. "Thanks, I really appreciate this." On her way back to the house, she pulled out one of the giant muffins and started eating it happily. Things were going so good right now. They were out of Manticore, Shayna and the baby were perfectly healthy, Kiera was safe, and she and Zack were getting closer. Of course there were bad things too, but she didn't even want to think about them. Changing her hair was the first step in protecting herself. The other thing was getting rid of her barcode. Zack was right, she needed to start getting it lasered off regularly. It would hurt, sure, but it was worth it by now. Manticore knew too much about her, and any defining mark that she could get rid of right now would give her an advantage.

Zack was sound asleep at the table when she came back, snoring softly with his arms dangling. She set the doughnuts and muffins down next to him and searched around for some paper and a pen. Once she had found some, she scribbled out a brief note saying that she was going out and might not come back for a little while, but that she would definitely be back in time for lunch. She didn't want anyone to know she was getting a haircut until she got back, she wanted it to be a surprise. Once again, she was walking through Osage, not even coming close to breaking a sweat by the time she reached the beautician's house. Hoping it wasn't too early to be disturbing anyone at home, she tentatively rang the doorbell. It didn't take long before she heard footsteps coming down the stairs, but the woman who answered the door didn't look like she'd just woken up. In fact, she was dressed up almost like she was planning on going out. She smiled politely at Jondy. "Can I help you?"

Jondy smiled back, wanting to make a good impression in case she was interrupting anything important. "Yes, your niece told me you cut hair, and I'd really like to change mine. Is now a good time?"

The woman's smile seemed genuine enough as she gestured for Jondy to come inside. "Of course, dear, I don't have any plans at the moment. Amanda called and told me I might be getting a customer today, so I actually have been getting some of my things ready. Sit down and make yourself at home for now, dear. We'll cut your hair on the linoleum in the kitchen so that I don't have too much of a mess. By the way, I'm Mrs. Morelen."

Jondy followed her into a fairly large kitchen, with at least enough room for four people to work comfortably and not bump into each other. "Is there a possibility you could dye my hair as well? This color is getting old."

Mrs. Morelen glanced up at her hair. "Old? It looks to me like you just need to redo the roots from the last time you dyed it, otherwise it looks fine to me. What color were you thinking of?"

"I'm not really sure, actually. What do you think would look good?"

She turned and studied Jondy for a minute, then replied, "I think strawberry blonde would suit you nicely, with perhaps some darker red streaks mixed in. What would you think if I gave you a much shorter haircut? I would at least shorten your bangs to chin length, then let the rest be just a little shorter so that you can flare it out behind your head. I think that would look very cute on you, what do you think?"

Jondy wasn't sure she wanted this woman seeing her barcode, but the idea seemed good. "Sure, why not? Do you have a bathroom I could use before we get started?"

"Right up the hallway to your left, dear, and first door on the left."

"Thanks." She hurried into the bathroom, shut the door, and immediately started searching for some sort of makeup. It was easy to find, Mrs. Morelen had an entire drawer of makeup. Working as quickly as possible, she managed to cover up the barcode satisfactorily. She smiled with relief when she read the 'water proof' label on the bottle in her hand. That was good, because she knew her neck would be getting wet soon anyway. When she had put everything back in its place, she reached over and flushed the toilet, turned on the faucet for nearly half a minute, and headed back to the kitchen. As she had expected, it took quite a while to finish styling her hair, but by the time it was done, she was grinning at herself in the mirror. How was it that something as simple as a new hairstyle could make such a dramatic difference? She would have thought the new look would make her look more like a little kid, but somehow it made her look very mature and grown up. As she gazed into the mirror, she was able to take in all the changes she had gone through during the least few months. She vaguely remembered that she had started growing again shortly before she was recaptured, and it looked as though she had finished. At least an inch or two had been added onto her height, and her curves were definitely there now. She couldn't wait to get back into some of her normal clothes and see the difference there.

As she was thanking Mrs. Morelen for doing such a good job, she finally had to ask, "Is there anywhere nearby where I can have a tattoo removed? I just broke up with my boyfriend, and I don't really want his name on my hip anymore."

Mrs. Morelen seemed taken aback, but she quickly recovered. "My son-in-law in Upton runs a tattoo parlor, and I think he takes them off as well. I'm surprised he knows how to run any of those lasering machines." From the look on her face, Jondy could tell that she didn't think too much of her son-in-law. Before she had to sit through a rant about how unworthy he was for her daughter, which Jondy was sure was coming, she quickly thanked Mrs. Morelen again, got the address for the tattoo parlor, and left. She had taken quite a bit of the money from Zack's jacket, so she had more than enough to pay Mrs. Morelen, and was sure she had enough to pay for getting her barcode removed. As she walked down the street, she chose the first car that actually had its keys in it and headed for Upton. It wasn't far, and she clearly remembered passing through it on their way to Osage. It also wasn't very big, but it was still quite a bit larger than its miniscule neighbor. It wasn't hard to find the parlor, and there was absolutely no business inside, so a very heavily tattooed young man took her directly to the back. From the wedding ring on his finger, she guessed he was the disliked son-in-law, but other than his startling appearance he was really very nice. He babbled cheerily as he prepared to start the lasering, and even hummed quietly while he worked. Yes, it hurt like all hell, but it was such a relief once it was off. It was so strange to look at her neck in the mirror and not see her own barcode standing out boldly on her skin, taunting her cruelly with the truth of her origin. It wasn't enough that she knew she was made in a test tube, but she had to have the physical proof of it as well.

By the time she arrived back at the safe house, she was at least an hour past when everyone else would have eaten lunch. They all seemed to like to eat right at noon, and it was already quarter after one. Kiera was sitting on the couch in the living room, apparently waiting for her to get home. "Sorry I'm late," Jondy apologized immediately, lowering herself into a rocking chair near the couch. "Some opportunities opened up for me and I couldn't pass them up."

Kiera shrugged without much concern. "I wasn't really worried, but Zack wanted me to wait for you to come back. I knew you would have a good reason for not coming back when you said you would. I see the hair has changed, but you said 'opportunities,' as in plural. What else did you change?"

Jondy turned so that Kiera could clearly see her neck. "I got my barcode removed. I'm going to have to keep up on that now that my hair's so short. I knew Zack would force me to change my appearance again now that Lydecker has seen me again, so I decided to do it before he gave the order. I don't like taking orders very much."

Kiera grinned, admiring her hair. "Yeah, so I've noticed. You're much better at giving them than anything else. It was impressive, the way you handled things the other day. I have to admit that I didn't completely understand Zack's choice of you as SIC back when he first did it, not to offend you or anything, but now I see why he did it."

"I take it you didn't think I'd be able to handle the responsibility?"

"Yeah, but you sure proved me wrong. We never would have made it out of there if it wasn't for you. I think Zack's still in awe of you a little bit, because he can't seem to get over how quickly you took care of everything, even without having the majority of your memories. You know, I know it's going to make you uncomfortable again, but I have to say it. I think he has some pretty strong feelings for you. You should see the change that comes over him every time he talks about you. He looks so much happier, much happier than I've ever seen him. I think that besides any extra feelings he may have for you, it's just been a good thing that he has someone to work with. Now that he's not doing this all alone, it takes a lot of pressure off of him, and now that we know you're fully capable of handling the job, it's a big relief for him. He actually has time to stop and breathe now, maybe even have a little bit of a life. Maybe you _both_ can have a little bit of a life." She wiggled her eyebrows mischievously.

Jondy rolled her eyes, holding back her own grin. "You're absolutely incorrigible, you know that? With how butch you are, I never would have thought you'd be so nosy, especially about my love life. Go bug somebody else, or at least talk about something else."

"Well, I haven't said yet that I really like your hair. It's really cute on you. _Zack_ will probably like it, too," she teased, ducking as Jondy threw one of the couch cushions at her, then stood up and walked off. Automatically, she found herself walking towards Zack's room. _I may as well go in and see him, he'll want to know why I was late._

Zack sat up as soon as she came in, then settled back again. His eyes flashed over her hair and the happy but slightly guilty look on her face. "I was planning on chewing you out as soon as you got back," he admitted, "because now is definitely not the time to go running around and coming home late, but you obviously were doing something constructive. I like your hair, it suits you. What else did you have done? That haircut couldn't have taken so long."

She sat down in the recliner, shaking her head a little bit to feel the lighter weight of her hair. It was strange to have it so short, it bounced all over the place now like a wig of strawberry blonde springs. "I had my barcode removed. I'll have to do that regularly now, with my neck always showing the way it is now. Don't say 'it's about time,' this was something I just had to do in my own time." At the feigned innocence on his face, she rolled her eyes. "Don't act like you weren't going to say it, I know you were. I also wanted to ask you about a few more things to fill in my memory. I'm having a hard time remembering the time when I was SIC. How long was I SIC before Shayna and I were captured, and how did you find out that we were at Manticore?"

"You were working with me for about two months before you were captured, and Ben was the one who told me Lydecker had caught you. Don't you remember giving him your phone?" She shook her head, staring back at him blankly. "Well, you went to Shayna's house to check on her, and Lydecker's men were already there. They hid when you went in, but you started to get suspicious. You came across Ben hiding in the bathroom, and he told you that the place was surrounded. When you figured out that the three of you couldn't escape, you forced Ben to stay hidden, gave him your cell phone, and told him that hitting redial would reach me. Then you sat down on the couch as the soldiers started getting into the house and forced yourself to forget everything. It was just a bad situation, you couldn't have possibly known that Lydecker was at Shayna's house, and there was no way to escape. For how badly things could have turned out, I think we ended up with the best scenario. When Ben called me, he told me everything that had happened. He even told me about Shayna lying about me being the father of the baby. I've got to admit, that surprised me quite a bit. I didn't know she would do something so underhanded to get back at me for separating her from Ben."

"She feels bad about it now. Have you talked to her?"

He shook his head. "No, she's been avoiding me since we got here. I'd appreciate it if you could convince her to come in here and talk to me. I don't want to fight with her, but I want to understand everything about why she did it. I knew she was having a harder time than everyone, with Ben as the exception, adjusting to the outside world, but I never would have thought she could do something like that. I guess I don't really know her that well."

"The way I see it, nobody knows much about her, and that's because I don't think she knows much about herself. I know how she's feeling, it's how I felt right after the escape. You realize that you're not a soldier following orders anymore, and then suddenly you're struggling to find out who you are without Manticore. She just hasn't gotten everything sorted out yet. I think this baby will give her a big push towards figuring it all out. You know, she feels so bad, I wouldn't be surprised if she named you godfather to the baby."

He smiled faintly. "That's what I'd be anyway, whether she gave me the title or not. If anything happened to her, I'd take care of the baby, or maybe see if one of the others was interested. I just know we can't set a second generation X5 up for adoption. What would happen if it started showing our advanced development? Manticore would swoop right in and take it away. No adoptive parents would know how to handle an X5 child."

"I'm hoping Shayna can do it. It's a pretty big responsibility, and I don't she's realized that yet. I think I'll be making a lot of visits to her house to help her out."

Suddenly, Zack looked a little uncomfortable. He gazed down at his hands, then back up at her. "That's another thing I wanted to talk to you about. After yesterday, I'm not sure it's appropriate for us to be living together again just yet, and I was thinking of asking you to live with Shayna until she is well settled in, maybe even until the baby is a few months old."

Jondy couldn't believe what he was saying. "So, you want me to live with Shayna for half a year? What about the others? Do you really want to go back to taking care of them yourself?"

"There's nothing saying you can't go see them, it's just that your actual home will be with Shayna, not me. I'll make sure you're kept up to date with their locations, the majority of them moved while you were in Manticore in case they were compromised. The only ones who didn't move were Kiera and Tinga, which didn't work out too well for Kiera. I'll have to give you everyone's addresses and phone numbers again, and you can talk to them all to help get your memories of your past visits with them back. As soon as I can move around well enough again, I want to get you and Shayna set up at a good safe house. In fact, I thought it might be smart to just have you stay here. It's right under Manticore's nose, which they won't expect, and people here don't ask questions. That's why I liked having this house so much. It was just for the purpose it's serving right now, to be a safe place to stay if I had to get anyone out of Manticore."

She knew he was hoping she wouldn't ask her next question, which was precisely why she asked it. "How much am I going to get to see you?"

He fidgeted slightly in his spot, reminding her of Jason whenever she had asked him where the stale cookies she had stolen from school had gone. "I'm not sure, but you can call me anytime, and I'm sure I'll stop in plenty of times. I'd like to be around when she has the baby."

"Zack, I really hope you know I'm not happy about this. I love Shayna, but I'm not sure I want to live with her for so long. I'd really much rather live with you." There, she'd said what she really wanted to say. Maybe before the ordeal with Manticore happened she would have been fine with it, but not now. Was he trying to push her away? He'd said that living together wasn't appropriate after yesterday, but she didn't see why not. If he was too uncomfortable with his feelings, she had no problem leaving things diplomatic between them. Or was he trying to stay away from the temptation of his own feelings? She didn't know or care, she just knew she didn't want to be separated from him so soon after being reunited.

"It'll be fine, you'll see. After we know Shayna and her baby are going to be fine together, I'll relocate them and you can live with me again. Is that better?"

She shrugged. "Does that mean that if they happen to be fine a week after the baby's born, it can happen then?"

"No, I'd be happier if you stuck around until Shayna really knows what she's doing. Like you said before, a baby is a big responsibility, and you're the most responsible person I know. If anyone can get her going straight, it's you. Don't think I'm trying to get rid of you, because believe me, I'm not. It's been great having you around. If you try to put up too much of a fight about his, I'll pull rank on you and force you to do it, which I really don't want to have to do. Tell you what, maybe before everyone here gets relocated, you and I can go back out to the cabin in Maine? It'll give you a relaxation period before you're back to work." She sensed he wanted to say more, but was holding himself back. Had he been about to add that it would be a chance for them to be alone for a while before they were separated? After that, how much opportunity would they have to just be around each other? Shayna would always be there during his visits, there really wasn't a way to get rid of her. She hadn't realized how much she liked spending time alone with Zack. They were so comfortable with each other, and she felt like she could actually talk to him about most things. Other than her extra growth, he knew pretty much everything about her.

After a few minutes of silence, Zack tentatively asked, "Could you go get Shayna? Like I said before, I really want to talk to her."

Jondy sighed and nodded, leaving the room without another word to him. Shayna was sitting in the living room talking to Ben, but she quickly agreed to talk to Zack. Jondy suspected that she wanted to get her apology to him over and done with. Once she was gone, Jondy sat down the spot that Shayna had just vacated. Ben looked like he was preparing himself for more insults about his way of life. "Is there something you wanted to talk about?"

To his surprise, she smiled. "Yeah, I've been meaning to ask you how things have been going after the escape. Other than the obvious, I want to know everything else. Is that okay?"

He smiled back. "Sure, I guess, if you really want to know. Any reason in particular you're asking?"

What was she supposed to say? _"I thought I should get to know you before we drop you off on the side of the road somewhere."_ Not likely. "Just curious." As he started enthusiastically telling her about his first set of foster parents, she settled back in her seat and listened patiently. It was too bad that he had gone insane. If he wasn't a killer, he'd be fun to be around. His life just hadn't worked out for the best. She just hoped that hers wouldn't go downhill now as well. Being separated from Zack, how was she supposed to handle that? Now the only thing she was really looking forward to was the birth of Shayna's baby and her trip with Zack to Maine. She just felt guilty that it was actually the latter that brightened her up more.


	17. To Live and Love

Author's Note: **Rose**, this story takes place a few years before the series started, so Zack is 19 and Jondy is somewhere on the brink of 16 and 17.

Disclaimer: Don't own a thing.

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Family Relations

By Be Boring

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Chapter 17: To Live and Love

In the car ride on the way to Maine, neither Zack nor Jondy said a word to each other. They were both perfectly content with sitting quietly together, because they knew it would be a long time before they had this chance again. When he visited her, Shayna would be there, and if they called each other, it would be pretty pointless to just sit quietly on the phone. Right now they just wanted to enjoy the simple pleasure of each other's quiet company. The silence didn't last the entire time, however. As they turned onto the extremely long, lonely road that led to the cabin, Zack finally turned to her.

"I realize you may not want to talk about this, but I was curious. Just how did they cure you of your seizures and heat cycles? If there was a way we could get rid of them, I'm sure everyone would be getting into line."

She shrugged, gazing out the window. "I'm not really sure how they cured them. They gave me an injection of some kind, but I don't know what was in it. They made my seizures and heat cycle come back full force for a little while, but once that faded I guess I was cured. I haven't had a seizure ever since, but it's not soon enough to tell if I'll have another heat cycle. I don't expect to get one though, I think they really wanted to get rid of those things. That's a relief, I really didn't want to have another heat cycle. The seizures were manageable, I've never had them as bad as some of the others, but not having them at all will be nice. Does anyone else have really bad seizures?"

"Blake's and Syl's get out of control every now and then, and from the few times I've checked on Max from a distance, I think she has some pretty serious seizures every now and then. I just think it will help us blend in better if we're not shaking like bobble heads and if the girls aren't jumping every man in sight."

Jondy couldn't believe it hadn't occurred to her before, but what had happened when the other girls first discovered they had heat cycles? She wasn't sure she wanted to know, but she couldn't hold herself back. "How did you first find out about heat cycles? What did the girls do when they started? I had Tinga there to explain things to me, but I'm sure not everyone had that luxury. Who was the first to get one?"

Zack looked like he would rather go back and have another go at an escape from Manticore. "Well, Tinga was the first to go into heat, which of course scared her shitless. Syl and Kiera were next, then by the time that Brin and Shayna started, we knew what was going on and were prepared for it."

Did she really want to keep going with this? "What happened with Tinga? How did she handle it?"

Even though she had suspected it, Zack's answer still hit like a rock. He hesitated for long time, and then finally mumbled, "She called me. She didn't know what was going on, and she didn't tell me nearly enough about what she was feeling. I went over there with no idea what I was going to find, and I really don't think I need to continue."

No, he didn't. She had been close enough to jumping him during her own cycle, even when she knew what was going on. "That must have been so hard for her. Did the same thing happen with Syl and Kiera?"

"Yeah." He refused to look in her direction, staring determinedly out the windshield at the cabin that apparently wasn't getting closer soon enough for him. When he finally sensed that she didn't want it to end there, he added, "It wasn't as uncomfortable as you think. We all understood that it was Manticore's fault for making us the way we are, and we agreed to put it behind us. Things weren't awkward too long, but maybe that's because we were so young. The younger you are, the easier it is to bounce back from things and put them behind you. No more accidents have happened since then. I've kept track of where they are in their cycles, so I don't end up popping in at a bad time. We've never talked about it, and as far as I'm concerned, it's ancient history. Why are you so curious about this anyway?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, it just occurred to me." Now the silence was no longer comfortable. Awkward wasn't even a strong enough word for it. She knew he didn't like to be reminded of past mistakes, not that she blamed him. He must have beat himself up about not being able to control himself. No wonder he had thrown her into a counter during her first cycle. He just didn't want it to happen again.

Zack pulled in front of cabin and immediately climbed out of the car. Jondy wondered if he regretted suggesting this outing. It sure hadn't started very well. "How long do you think we'll stay?"

He glanced at the cabin and shrugged. "I don't know, I haven't decided yet. I guess it depends if anything comes up. If someone calls, our trip will really be cut short."

At least he hadn't automatically said "not long." He had hinted at it though. If she hadn't unsettled him, she was sure he would have said a definite amount of time. That's just the way he was. "I hope it's for a while, I've spent too much time with Shayna for the last couple months to want to go straight back for some more."

He smiled briefly as he pulled their bags out of the backseat. _Well, that's a relief. I don't want him to cut this trip short just because I started up a stupid conversation._ She followed him inside with the last bag, finally deciding that maybe she needed to give him some space. Did she really want to do that on their last chance to be alone? _He'll be no fun to be alone with if I don't let him relax and realize I didn't mean any harm. _As soon as they had set their things down, she said, "I think I'm going to go for a walk. I want to go out to the pond." He merely nodded, not even looking up as he took his bags off to his room. Now she was starting to get pissed at him. If he didn't loosen up soon, she was going to smack him.

Jondy practically stomped the entire way to the pond, but once she was there, a lot of her anger had drained away. She climbed up into a nearby tree and watched the breeze send gentle ripples across the surface of the water. Despite being the middle of autumn, it was fairly warm out. It took her awhile to make up her mind, but she finally decided to go for a swim. Zack had told her once that he didn't think anyone else knew about this place, so who would see? She dropped down to the ground and peered around furtively. Once she was convinced nobody was spying, she started taking off her clothes and piled them at the base of the tree she'd been sitting in. Before the breeze could cool her off too much, she dove straight into the water. The shock made her breath catch for a moment, but soon she was cutting through the water with ease. This was something she rarely had the chance to do. The Casteau's had a pool, but she didn't stand a chance of using it, and the last time she and Zack had been out here, she hadn't been comfortable enough around him to go swimming without a swimsuit. She thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of the chilly water gliding between her fingers and toes, reveling in the weightless feeling it gave her.

As they had been so prone to do lately, more things occurred to her as she swam. Back at the house in Osage, would Kiera feel sympathetic towards Ben after the short time they had spent killing and let him run off with Shayna? She knew he wanted to be a part of his baby's life, which wasn't in Zack's plan, so would he try to make a run for it? Even if Kiera didn't help them, would they be able to overpower her? Jondy didn't think so, Kiera was even tougher than she looked, which was pretty considerable. Besides, she didn't think Ben would attack her after he knew she had shown tendencies toward killing like him.

This was only at the far back of her mind, however. The front running issue was this trip. She had been grateful to take a break before she went back to taking care of Shayna, but what exactly were Zack's intentions? They had both revealed their more-than-sibling-like feelings the other day, so had that incident encouraged him to take her out here with him? What was he expecting? The question made her stop swimming immediately, she simply remained in the middle of the pond, treading water. The _snap_ of a twig behind her made her spin around, and her stomach dropped uncomfortably when she saw Zack standing there. He was holding a large towel in his hands, which he held up so she could see it clearly.

"I knew you would eventually take a swim, so I thought I'd bring this out for you. I'll leave it here by your clothes." He placed the towel on top of her jeans, then started to make his way back down the path.

Jondy stared after him, grateful that he hadn't been able to see anything clearly. What if he had come out while she was floating? "Wait, just stand behind a tree until I'm dressed again, okay? I'll walk back with you." She slipped out of the water as soon as she was sure he couldn't see anything, and started drying off and pulling her clothes on as fast as she could. When she was finished, she walked up beside him and tapped his shoulder. "Okay, I'm ready."

They started walking back quietly, but Jondy couldn't leave her thoughts alone. She needed to know what had been going through his mind when he'd planned this trip. "Um, I'm just curious, but when did you decide to come out here?"

He shrugged and looked down at her, obviously without a clue of what she was implying. "I thought of it pretty much as soon as I woke up for the first time and was talking with Kiera. She said she thought you could use a break. I mean, I went in there to get you out, but you ended up running the operation. After spending so long back at Manticore and pushing away your own memories, you took charge of the group and got everybody out of there safely. It was no wonder you slept so long once we were back. I had been going to suggest it to you right away, but you started asking me questions about the things you couldn't remember, and I didn't get a chance to bring it up until later."

She knew he wasn't lying, she would have been able to tell. Besides, when had he ever lied to her? "Look, about that topic I started earlier, I'm really sor—"

He held up a hand and cut her off before she could finish her apology. "Don't worry about it, it's natural you would be curious, and I shouldn't have walled up like I did. None of it was your fault, and it certainly wasn't theirs or mine. I guess I just didn't expect to have that conversation with you. To tell you the truth, I'm proud of you. I'm sure you suspected it before, but asking the questions left out all doubt. What's more, you didn't freak out. Brin found out once by accident, and she flipped on me."

"How did Brin find out?"

He hesitated, then apparently decided that she would find out from Brin later anyway if he didn't tell her. "It wasn't even a week after my, um, _run-in_, with Syl, and she wasn't handling it quite as well as Tinga and Kiera had. According to her, she felt disgusting and hated herself every time she saw me. She always was a little bit more emotional. Eventually, she managed to find out Brin's number and called her. She told me later that she felt then like she just had to tell somebody or it would tear her apart. Brin showed up a little bit later, much to my surprise, and started chewing me out. That sure didn't help Syl, she couldn't stop crying while we were fighting. The fight turned physical eventually, but as soon as we were too tired to continue, I got my chance to explain. It wasn't like Tinga and Kiera, Syl didn't call me and say she wasn't feeling well. I had showed up to get her out of a hostile foster home, and she came into heat while I was finding her a new place to live. Once everything was out in the open, Brin decided it wasn't my fault and she helped Syl work through her feelings. Needless to say, Brin was much more prepared when her cycles started. She didn't even call me, she let me know later that they had started. I passed on everything I knew to Shayna so that she could be ready too, and once I had everyone's schedule down, we didn't have to worry about more mistakes." He paused, as if surprised that he had said so much. "What is it about you that makes me talk until there's nothing more to say?"

"I don't know, but I'm glad you told me. It lets me know you're human." He looked down at her dubiously, but she smiled to let him know she was teasing. After that, he loosened up noticeably.

They spent the rest of the day in complete leisure, sometimes having a senseless conversation, otherwise keeping complete silence. When they started making supper, which would actually be good this time because of the fresh food they had picked up on the way here, she listened with a grin as he shared horror stories of cooking with her, both his own experiences and those of some of the others. It didn't come as a surprise that Krit had managed to blow up an oven once, but it shocked her more when she found out that Tinga had worked at a restaurant when she was younger, and when Zack had decided to relocate her, she stole every last bit of food she could take with her from it. She even ran off with the frosting tubes that they used to decorate cakes. According to Zack, she had squeezed a little bit into her mouth every so often along their road trip as a snack. He didn't tell her many of his own tales, although he did share the time when he had wanted to use cinnamon and sugar on his French toast and picked up the saltshaker rather than the sugar container by accident. Apparently he liked a _lot_ of sugar on his French toast, because the salty version made him think he was dying.

Despite the X5 tradition of disastrous meals, their simple menu of pork chops and potatoes with corn turned out extremely well. They cleaned up quickly and sat down by the fire as the night air became increasingly colder, more like the middle of winter than the middle of fall, even after the earlier warmth of the day. The fire warmed both of them, though, and soon they were talking contentedly about their early teenage years, when they were first adjusting to the real world. It wasn't until Jondy noticed that Zack was starting to doze off that they brought things to an end and retired to their bedrooms. With her stomach full and the warmth of the fire still lingering on her, Jondy curled up on her bed and pulled the quilt as close around her as she could, drifting off to a very light sleep.

__

She was sitting back at Manticore, staring at the wall of her cell with Shayna. Even though she could hear her sister's grunts of pain, she didn't even glance down. "Jondy, help me, the baby's coming!" Shayna gasped, clutching her stomach and suppressing a scream as another contraction hit her. "Why won't you look at me?"

"Don't worry," Jondy replied in a monotone, "the doctors will take care of everything." As though they had heard her words, the door to their cell opened and several people in white body suits rushed in and forced Shayna onto a stretcher. Even without looking at them, Jondy knew they were the faces she had looked up at whenever she had been studied as a child. A crowd of faces above her, mostly hidden by the white cloth of their outfits, staring down at her without mercy. Yes, those eyes, only visible through their plastic visors, were the ones that were now looking down at Shayna. She finally looked over into where the hallway used to be, but which had now changed into a doctor's office. Shayna was on her back, lying on a table with her feet in stirrups, now letting her screams out as the contractions increased. There were no doctors in there, however, only Lydecker. He was standing between Shayna's legs, hands held out to take the baby when it came. Shayna's final shriek of pain signaled the child's arrival, and Lydecker held it up to the light.

Rather than being wet, and without its umbilical cord, the baby looked as though it was at least a few days old. Jondy gasped when its features hit the light. Instead of looking like Shayna or Ben, it looked nearly identical to Lydecker. It was a little boy, with a soft tuft of dark blonde hair and sharp blue eyes. It even had some of Lydecker's sharp features in its cheeks, although softened by the gentle roundness of baby fat. Before her eyes, the boy grew until he appeared to be around nine years old, still looking just like a younger Lydecker. He reached out and grabbed a scalpel from a nearby table, and proceeded to move to the head of the table and cut his own mother's throat.

A hand landed on Jondy's shoulder, and she turned to see Zack, gesturing wildly for her to follow him. She nodded, still horrified by what she had seen, but when they had stood up, she looked down to see the boy standing right next to Zack. Zack didn't seem to see him though, for he turned to face in that direction and started trying to pull her along after him. "Zack, stop!" she shouted, pulling on his hand as hard as she could. "They'll get you!"

"Of course we will," the boy hissed, grinning maliciously in her direction. Before she could do anything to stop it, he reached up and sliced Zack's throat. Zack turned to face her, his eyes wide with panic as he tried to stem the blood flow with his hands. He reached out for her, smearing blood on her arms as he clutched wildly at her. She choked back a scream of horror as blood spurted from the wound, covering her much faster than it should have.

"Why did you let me down?" Zack whispered, sinking to his knees, continuing to lose blood at an impossible rate. "I trusted you, why didn't you help me?" As he started to collapse, she finally let loose the scream she'd been holding back. It echoed around the cell, overpowered only by the young Lydecker's laughter. "Jondy!" a distant voice called out. "Jondy!"

"Jondy!" She was snapped back into reality by Zack kneeling on her bed, shaking her shoulders gently as he called out her name. She gasped and sat bolt upright, nearly colliding with his head. Her entire body was shaking uncontrollably, sweat was rolling off of her, but eventually she started taking deeper breaths and began to relax. Zack was still sitting next to her, as white as a sheet. When she had finally calmed down enough to be concerned about the fear on his face, he managed to spit out, "I thought something had happened to you when you screamed, and when I got in here I thought you were having a seizure. Was it a nightmare?"

She nodded, unable to speak. She was still trembling slightly, and now the chill was mixing with her sweat, causing her shaking to increase a little. Absentmindedly she reached out for him, needing to feel him completely alive and well. When he moved closer and held her, rocking her back and forth slowly as he repeated soothingly that it had all just been a dream, she chanced a glance at his throat. Nope, no cut there. The skin was as smooth as it ever was. He rocked her for several minutes, then finally stepped back and tucked her in, much like she knew a mother did for her own children.

When he turned to leave, she called out, "Could you stay here for a little while? At least until I fall asleep? And could you turn the lamp on?"

He smiled, returning to her bedside and obediently turning on the light. He pulled over a crooked old wooden chair that hardly looked as though it could support his weight, and sat down stiffly. She closed her eyes again, comforted by the knowledge that he was right there and perfectly healthy. She listened to his breathing, which was light but alert, showing that he was wide awake. Without giving it a second thought, she scooted closer to the edge of the bed, not allowing the little blanket-nest Zack had created for her to pull away from her body, and reached out her hand to grab his. With the warmth of his hand on hers, she finally let herself fall asleep again.

The warmth on her hand was the first thing she noticed when she woke up, and she smiled when she opened her eyes to see Zack sound asleep in the chair, his head flopped over the back of it. He had never let go of her hand, which was obvious by the sticky warmth caused by sweat. The part of her arm that had been sticking out of the blanket was covered in goosebumps, but the rest of her was pleasantly warm under the blanket. That's when she noticed Zack shivering lightly as he slept. She pulled her hand out of his to bring her arm under the blanket and allow it to warm up, but the change woke him up. His head jerked forward, and she saw him wince when his sore neck was forced back into an upright position. He still smiled though when he saw only her eyes poking out of the blanket as she attempted to keep herself trapped within the warmth of her blanket.

"Cozy?"

"Snug as a bug in a rug," she replied in a muffled voice, refusing to lift her mouth out of the blanket to talk clearly to him. "Aren't you cold?"

"Freezing. How did you sleep?"

"Not bad. Are you really that cold?"

"I would be warmer inside a snowman. Any nightmares?"

"Nope, slept like a baby. Now get your ass under this blanket before you freeze to death over there." She slid back on the bed, frowning as she moved onto a cool section of the sheet beneath her. His are-you-serious expression only lasted for a moment, he was too cold to care whether she was serious or not. He drew the quilt quickly against himself, a look of relief coming over his face as the chill left his body. He rolled onto his side to face her, his breath waving gently over her face. _Praise the Lord X5s don't get morning breath,_ she thought with some amusement. The thought made her smile, which made him look at her curiously.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing important. Thank you for staying in here last night, I probably wouldn't have gotten back to sleep without you."

"What was that nightmare about?"

"Just something to do with Manticore."

"What made you scream?"

She sighed, reluctantly answering, "You had just died. You have no idea how much that dream scared me."

Zack reached forward and squeezed her shoulder. "You don't have to worry, I'm not going anywhere, even when you finally get sick of my pushiness and want me to leave. I'm staying right here."

She smiled again, feeling relaxed now that the dream wasn't so vivid in her mind. "I know. And just for the record, I'll never get sick of your pushiness, just like I don't think you'll get sick of me ignoring it." He laughed, the first real laugh he had given since the escape. Tentatively, she leaned forward and pulled herself against him, attaching herself like a leech to get warmer. The sudden closeness made her breath catch in her throat, and she heard his do the same. Even though it hadn't been her original intention, she knew they were both considering the same thing, and she knew which direction she was leaning in. She tilted her head back and looked up at him, wondering if she was making a wise decision. They weren't going to see each other very much for months, did she really want to do this now? Would it just make things harder? He didn't let her think about it long, he leaned down and kissed her very gently. It wasn't long, and when he pulled back, she knew a little bit of her fear was showing in her eyes. "Zack, I…"

"I know," he whispered, reflecting some of her own fear back at her with his eyes. "Me too." For some reason, that seemed to settle it. She pulled him down to her, giving him the most intense kiss they had shared yet. She knew she was starting something that she wouldn't be able to stop, opening feelings that she may never be able to hold back again, but she didn't care anymore. She was sick of running, hiding, worrying, looking over her shoulder. She was sick of all of it. For now, she just wanted to live and love.


	18. Looking Ahead

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, the only things I own of Dark Angel are the DVDs.

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Family Relations

By Be Boring

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Chapter 18: Looking Ahead

Jondy lay quietly on her side, gazing at Zack peacefully. He was looking right back, still breathing hard. The silence seemed to last hours, but Jondy didn't mind. She was taking the opportunity to take in every detail about him that she could; everything from the bone structure in his face, the rarely-seen affection in his eyes, and the gentle rise and fall of his chest as his breathing began to slow down finally, to the three strands of hair that continued to ignore their companions and hang right down between his eyes. No detail was too small for her to overlook, she wanted to remember it all. Even his scent was permanently etched into her mind, never to be let loose. Zack was the first to break the silence. "How do you feel? I tried to be careful, but I wasn't sure if I hurt you or not."

She smiled back and replied softly, "No, you didn't hurt me. I'm fine. In fact, I've never felt better. What about you? This might be considered a serious moment of weakness for you, giving into your emotions like this."

"I can deal with that. I know I don't usually like to deal with emotions, but I'm glad I took the chance this time. This might be the happiest I've ever felt."

Those were strong words, coming from Zack. Even though it didn't surprise her to know he felt that way, it was extremely out of character for him to admit it. Now that he had opened up a bit, she wondered if she should as well. The words she wanted to say were much stronger than what he'd said, though. What if it pushed him away? Still, she had to give it a shot. She leaned forward and kissed him warmly on the cheek, placed her lips next to his ear and whispered, "I love you, Zack," and slid forward to lie against him comfortably. He rolled onto his back so she could partially lie across his chest, but he remained quiet. _There you go, Jondy, moving too fast again as usual. Now you've gone and scared him. What if he decides this is all too much for him to deal with and pushes you back to just being his work partner? What will you do then?_ Jondy desperately wished the little voice in her head would shut up, but it had a point. What would she do if Zack panicked and backed out of this relationship before it really got started? She knew she wouldn't be able to do it. Maybe before, but not now that they had made love. She had given herself to him in the most powerful way she knew of. She simply wouldn't be able to deal with it if Zack decided this wasn't what he wanted.

They lay there for a long time, neither making so much as a peep, but Zack's fingers moved up and started gently toying with her short hair. She wasn't sure if this was a positive sign or not, he could either be trying to express that he felt the same way, or trying to work up the courage to break it off with her. Finally, he moved his hand to her chin and tilted it up so he could see her eyes. "I love you, too. It's always been that way. I've loved you since you were brought in from the Manticore nursery, just like I loved everyone else." Jondy stiffened, preparing herself for a hard blow. He was going to tell her that he loved her, but not in the way she desperately wanted him to love her, she was sure of it. "As we've all grown up, I continued to love everyone the same, until we started working together. I don't know when it happened, but I think it became really clear after you were captured that I felt differently about you. I don't know, maybe until that time I'd managed to convince myself that I cared about you so much just because we had spent so much time together, but once you were taken away from me, I couldn't lie to myself. I nearly went off the deep end. It took all my willpower to contact everyone and let them know you had been captured and they would have to move, without letting on how much it was killing me. I kept expecting you to walk through the door at any moment, laughing and telling me not to worry so much. To tell you the truth, I don't think there would have been a rescue mission if it had just been Shayna. It was you I went in there for."

A tear slipped down Jondy's cheek, which landed on his collarbone before she could stop it. She knew he had noticed, but he didn't make any move to wipe it away. She could have jumped for joy, but there was one more thing she wanted. He had said the words she wanted to hear, but it seemed to take away some of their importance when he followed it up with how he felt about the others. Why couldn't he just have said the words straight out like she had? It seemed that her question was in her eyes, because he kissed her lightly on the forehead and murmured, "In other words, I love you too."

Jondy couldn't help it, the tears started coming faster and she wrapped her arms around his neck, overwhelmed by everything that was happening. Ever since she had heard her first fairy tale at age ten, when she had been the middle child in her room at the Casteau mansion and the older girl, Miranda, had read her Cinderella, she had wanted that kind of love for herself. At the time she believed it would happen, but as she grew older and the harsh realities of life set in, she started to forget about that tiny dream. She lowered her goal to merely being normal, then when she realized that couldn't be achieved, she settled for pretending to be ordinary. Without even realizing it, her dreams had started picking up again. True, she didn't live a normal life, but it was normal for an X5. She was no different than them, and it was a relief to realize that she wasn't the only one dealing with the pain of knowing she was very different. All teenagers went through that stage, but none of them were quite as different as the X5s. Then, when she had come to terms with her new life as an active X5, Zack had fulfilled her original dream. Now that she thought about it, this wasn't very different from the tale of Cinderella. With Manticore forcing her to follow instructions and the Casteau's making her feel like she was cheap and unimportant, she rose to have a powerful position and someone to share it with, or rather, someone who was sharing their powerful position with her. Princess wasn't the word she would use, but in this post-Pulse world, SIC was pretty damn close to it.

Zack grunted uncomfortably as she wept against his neck, evidently not sure if he should attempt to comfort her or not, because he didn't really know what had made her start crying. When her tears finally slowed, he joked feebly, "If I had known you were going to get this emotional about it, I would have waited to say it until I had a tissue at hand."

She laughed and wiped away the dampness from her face. "Sorry, I guess this is all pretty new for me. It just all piled up on me there for a second." She rolled onto her back, then moved her hands to her stomach as a loud growl rumbled through it. "Are you as hungry as I am?"

He sat up and reached for his clothes. "Probably hungrier. I think we still have some leftovers from last night, so how about supper for breakfast?"

Jondy smiled and grabbed her clothes off the floor. "A little unorthodox, but alright." They walked into the kitchen, standing much closer together than usual as they heated up the remaining pork chops in the microwave. Instead of sitting across from each other at the table, they sat right next to one another. Jondy found herself smiling for absolutely no reason as the morning wore on, and she noticed Zack doing the same. They were acting like kids on Christmas morning, so happy that they could hardly contain themselves, but without a clue of how to express it. It would be somewhat immature to jump up in the air and squeal and giggle like a little girl, but it was what Jondy felt like doing.

When breakfast had been cleared away, Jondy glanced towards the bathroom. Should she dare suggest it? Of course. "Hey, are you up for a shower?" Zack didn't even get his chance to reply, she was already through the bathroom door_. He can decide for himself if he wants to follow._ She had no sooner turned on the water and stepped inside the bathtub than Zack came in, pulling off his shirt as he came. "You sure didn't think about it long," she teased, poking her head around the shower curtain. He rolled his eyes and stepped in after her, reaching past her and flipping the water up to the showerhead. Jondy jumped as the first cold shock hit her, but the water warmed quickly. She picked up the shampoo bottle, leaning comfortably against Zack as they stood crammed tightly together in the tiny space. Before she could squeeze any into her hand, however, he took the bottle from her.

"Here, let me do it." If she had been afraid that he was a rough hair washer, she was sadly mistaken. It was just like being in a barbershop, his fingers slid through her hair just hard enough to clean it, but light enough for her to feel like she could fall asleep standing up if he would keep going for hours. His voice surprised her when he murmured in her ear, "Feel good?"

"You have no idea," she groaned, tilting her head forward so he could work further down her neck. "Where did you learn to do this so well?"

"Would you believe I worked in the same barbershop as Brin when I was first trying to check up on her without her knowing?"

"Really? She didn't guess it was you?"

She felt him shift his weight uncomfortably. "Well, I was, uh, acting quite a bit different from usual so she wouldn't suspect."

Jondy turned to face him with a grin on her face. "You pretended to be gay, didn't you?"

Zack blushed and started trying to rinse her hair out. "Yeah, basically. I was pretty good at it, I worked with her for well over a week before I let her know who I was, and she practically fainted. If you had seen me then, you probably wouldn't have believed it was me either."

Jondy's eyes danced mischievously. "Did you happen to wear ridiculously tight pants and spike your hair?"

He refused to make eye contact with her, focusing instead on her hair. She burst out laughing, grabbing his arm to keep from slipping in the wet tub. She would pay good money for pictures of that.

Just as he finished rinsing out her hair, Jondy heard the clear ringing of his cell phone in the other room. They stared at each other, disappointment very clear in both their eyes. Zack stepped out and grabbed a towel, then headed into the living room. She poked her head around the curtain and listened intently as Zack answered the phone. She couldn't make out what he was saying, but she definitely heard him flip it shut loudly in frustration. She pulled her head back behind the curtain before he could see it as he walked back into the bathroom, but he didn't get back into the shower. Instead, he started to get dressed again. As she finished washing up, she asked, "Who was it? When are we leaving?"

She knew her anger was showing in her voice, but she couldn't help it. This was her last chance to be alone with Zack before they were separated for several months, and now it was getting cut short. He sighed as he pulled his shirt over his head. "It was Kiera. We'll have to get going quickly, Ben and Shayna are headed for Boulder, Colorado."

Jondy shut off the water and stepped out, toweling herself off furiously. "How does she know that?"

"I guess they were so insistent about running away that she pretended to help them and told them about a series of abandoned summer homes just outside of Boulder that she had hid in once. We'll have to get going, because even though Shayna might trust Kiera, Ben won't. He won't stay there long, just long enough for him to find a new place to stay."

He was already hurrying off to the bedrooms to throw their stray things back into their bags. By the time she was dressed, he was hauling things toward the car. She picked up the remaining bags and took off after him. When she had set her armload in the car, he asked, "Anything else we have to still get in the cabin?"

"Not as far as I know," she replied, already heading for the passenger side of the car. As Zack jumped in and started up the car, she looked longingly at the cabin. Why did they have to leave? Suddenly, she didn't care if Shayna and Ben ran off together. They'd be careful, they wouldn't want to get caught again. As far as she was concerned, it was good riddance. They were both more trouble than they were worth. After a moment, she felt ashamed of herself. They were her family, she couldn't just let them run off. What if they were too reckless and put the baby's life in danger? No, the right thing to do was to go after them.

The trip to Colorado went far too quickly for Jondy's liking. Wasn't a drive across the country supposed to take longer? Sure, Zack was speeding insanely, but it just didn't seem like they had enough time. Before she knew it, they were parking the car in a parking lot in Boulder and setting off on foot for the countryside. Even that journey, which in reality took a few hours, seemed to go by in a flash. They didn't speak once the entire time, but Jondy didn't know if he was thinking about their looming separation or if he was focused on the task at hand. He probably had both running through his mind, he had always been extraordinary at multitasking.

After searching through several of the abandoned homes, Zack ran his fingers back through his hair, obviously thinking something over as hard as he could. Finally, he muttered, "I think we should split up, we'll find them faster that way."

"How are we supposed to let the other one know when we've found them? I left my cell phone in the car."

He glanced around, trying to spot as many houses as he could from where they were standing. "Well, if my suspicions are right, we'll hear it when the other one has found them. I think Ben is going to put up a big fight about this. You'll have to be really careful, but I think we'll stand a better chance of finding them if we're not together. We're too easy to see right now. Ben could get them both out of here before we find out which one they were hiding in. Will you be all right if you're the one who has to deal with Ben?"

"After the last few months, and especially after this past week, I think I could deal with an army of Bens. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." Zack stared at her for a second, then reached out and squeezed her hand tightly before running off to their left. Jondy turned to the right and started stealthily making her way through the trees to the nearest house. More hours passed by as she snuck from house to house, finding nothing but dreary emptiness every time. These houses were falling apart. She guessed they belonged to people who had lost everything in the Pulse, because she doubted anyone had been here for the past seven years.

It wasn't until she reached one of the last houses that was practically on top of a gently trickling creek that she saw something unusual. The underbrush ahead of her had been knocked aside, and when she moved closer to investigate, she saw the front half of a barely sunk-in footprint. The sole design of what had to be an extremely worn tennis shoe had just barely imprinted itself into a partially dried mud puddle. From what she could see, it was too large to be a woman's shoe, so it must have been Ben's. As she kneeled down to get a closer look, her stomach dropped. It wasn't the front half of the shoe that had made an imprint, it was the back, which meant that Ben had been heading _away_ from the house when he made this. She glanced up at the house, quickly seeing through the broken window to the stairs inside. There were clear footsteps in the dust on the stairs.

"It sure didn't take Kiera long to call you," came a calm, low voice from behind her. She spun around, only to be met by Ben's fist, which collided with her left cheek and sent her straight to the ground. She jumped to her feet and ducked his next punch, then threw up her arm and blocked his leg before it hit her. After he realized he didn't have the upper hand anymore, he took a step back with his fists still up and his legs bent in a fighting stance. Jondy pulled herself into the same position, taking a step back as well to give herself more room.

"Come on, Ben, do you really want to fight me?"

He didn't move his head, but his eyes gave it away. "No, not really, but I'll do what I have to so that you don't take Shayna away from me. That's my baby too, you don't have the right to take him or her away from me."

Jondy honestly felt bad for him, he wanted so badly to be a part of his child's life, but that just wasn't possible. "I'm sorry, but it can't be helped. We're looking out for the baby's best interests, and you know as well as I do that two X5s are going to draw a lot more attention than one. You and Shayna won't be able to keep your heads down well enough to keep Manticore from finding you, especially if you're raising a baby." She wanted to talk about his extracurricular activities as well, but she didn't want to anger him further.

"Don't worry about us, I'll take care of everything," he replied firmly. Almost before she could react, he shot forward and whipped her around, locking an arm around her neck. She was ready for him this time though, she moved closer to a tree before he reached her and when he had her trapped against him, she ran right up the tree and flipped backward over him. As soon as her feet were on the ground, she backhanded him as he turned around and forced him into the same tree she had just run up. While he was recovering, she took off for the house, charging in and locking the door behind her as she went. It wouldn't delay him long, he could either kick down the door or climb in through the broken window. She looked around for a path that wouldn't be too visible, but nearly every avenue open to her had a hard floor covered with a thick layer of dust. Her only option was the living room, but it left her completely visible through the window. Making her decision quickly, she dropped to the floor and crawled under the window, heading straight for an old grandfather clock on the other side of the room. She doubted Zack would have heard her fighting with Ben after how far she'd gone in the opposite direction from him, but she'd make sure he heard this.

Once she was past the window, she jumped to her feet and headed for the clock. She bent her legs and wrapped her arms around it, lifting it a few inches off the floor. Shuffling sideways, she carried the clock over to the only unbroken window in the house, a gargantuan bay window that overlooked the very tiny incline down to the small creek. Gathering her strength, she hurled the clock through the window, jumping back and covering her ears at the resulting crash. If Zack hadn't heard that, she would eat the broken glass on the floor.

She heard a scream from upstairs, she must have surprised Shayna with the crash as well. Jondy whipped around to see Ben knocking down the door and striding in, staring around for the source of the racket. She dropped down behind the couch, knowing he would have caught the movement out of the corner of his eye. She reached out and picked up one of the larger shards of glass, fully prepared to use it if he pushed her that far. She could already hear his light footsteps heading in her direction. Her eyes flashed around the only portion of the room she could see from her point of view, and they landed on an old fashioned telephone that needed the dialer to be spun over the numbers, but it was at least twenty feet away. Would she be able to get to it before Ben stopped her?

As soon as she knew he was about to step around the couch, she sprung forward and sank the shard of glass into his thigh. He cried out and jumped back, not paying any attention to her as she scrambled for the phone. She didn't know if he was stronger than she was or not, but she didn't want to take the time to find out. Why drag it out? To her surprise, he lunged after her and tackled her around the waist when she was only a few feet from the table holding the phone. She hit the ground hard, yelping when her forehead bounced off the edge of the table. A fair amount of blood began to stream down the right side of her face. She noticed Ben hesitate, perhaps not sure he wanted to hurt her so much, but she didn't quite feel the same way now. She reached up and snatched the phone, then brought it down hard on the top of his head. He slumped against her, and she started to panic. What if she had killed him? After Eva, she wasn't sure she could deal with killing another X5. She sat up and tilted his head back, pressing her fingers against his throat. She heaved a deep sigh of relief at the strong pulse beneath her fingers.

"Oh my God, what did you do to Ben?" Shayna shrieked, running down the stairs as fast as she could go. Jondy clutched the edge of the table and pulled herself up, frowning when she pulled her hand back and realized there was some blood on it that she had left on the table. Her hand moved up to her head and she cringed as her fingers came into contact with the gash on the right side of her forehead. It was near enough to her temple that she knew she had come very close to severing her artery. Before she knew it, Shayna was on top of her, throwing punches without really aiming. "You bitch! You can fuck the C.O. but you can't let me be with the father of my baby? You stupid whore, why can't you let me be happy?"

The words stunned Jondy so much that at first she couldn't even react, she simply let Shayna continue on her tirade while she struck away with her fists. "Yeah, we all knew what was going to happen when you and Zack took off. I can't believe how damn selfish you are. I just want this one thing, and you can't let me have it! Before, when I wanted to be with Ben, Zack took me away, then he tried to make me leave Brandon, the only other person who really cared about me! But did anyone take you away from Zack? No, of course not, because he had the opportunity to have a piece of ass! You're kidding yourself if you believe your time with him was anything more than that, but I don't think you care either. You probably loved letting him take advantage of you, you fucking slut!"

Finally, Jondy had to respond. There were no words that could describe what she was feeling, but she managed to get her point across pretty well with the left hook she threw at her sister. Shayna was sent straight to the floor, but instead of coming back for Jondy again, she slid over to sit next to Ben and pulled him into her arms, saying whatever soothing things she could think off. Jondy backed away from them both, now dreading more than ever the fact that she would have to live with Shayna for several months. Hearing her sister call her such filthy names had been a hard blow, even though she knew Shayna was wrong. Zack wasn't just out for a "piece of ass." He loved her, and she didn't have a single doubt about it.

"What's going on in here?" Zack's voice demanded from the busted front door.

Jondy turned with relief and motioned towards the unconscious Ben in Shayna's arms. "Everything's under control, we just need to find a place to put him until we can get Shayna out of here."

Shayna crossed her arms and glared at Jondy fiercely. "Sure, the tramp managed to get things under control. Congratulations on picking a winner, Zack. She's good in bed _and_ she can fight."

If anything Shayna said shocked Zack, he didn't show it. He merely stared her down and growled, "That's enough, Shayna. Get your things, we're leaving."

It wasn't easy to drag the feisty, pregnant X5 to the car against her will. She kept screaming out for Ben to wake up, but Jondy doubted he could get to them even if he did hear her cries. She and Zack had dragged him into the basement and barricaded him inside with as many things as they could find. There were no windows, so he would have to get out through the heavily blocked basement door. It would take him a few hours to make it out, and it could still be several hours before he even woke up. According to Zack, Jondy had been dangerously close to killing him with that telephone. If she had been even an inch closer to the back of his head, that blow would have been fatal.

Jondy ended up driving back to Wyoming; Zack had to sit with Shayna and hold her still. They were both lathered in sweat by the time they reached Osage, which evidently took Kiera by surprise as she came out of the house. "Where's Ben?"

"We left him in Colorado, so we're going to have to move fast so we're out of here by the time he wakes up and finds a ride back here," Jondy replied, helping Zack drag Shayna from the back seat as she screamed every obscenity in the book at them. Kiera rushed forward to help them, and between the three of them, they managed to force her into Kiera's bedroom, which was the only one without windows. Once they were done, Jondy flopped out on the floor in the living room. Zack chose the sofa, and Kiera plopped herself down in the rocking chair.

Suddenly, Kiera looked over at Zack meaningfully and turned to Jondy. "Hey, could you run to the bakery and get us something to eat? I don't care what you bring back, but I'm starving." Jondy looked from Kiera to Zack, but she couldn't understand why Kiera was trying to get rid of her.

"Sure, I guess, but it's kind of late in the day for doughnuts or muffins or anything like that. Are you sure that's what you want?"

Kiera nodded and handed her a handful of bills. "Yeah, that'll work." Jondy glanced at Zack again, who seemed as clueless as she was about what was going on. He just shrugged when she looked at him, so she headed out. She rushed to the bakery, jogging the entire way. She would have used the car, but it was such a short trip that it would have been a waste of gas. She was almost rude to Amanda when she bought a few boxes of muffins, but she apologized quickly before she rushed out the door again. She had to find out what Kiera was talking to Zack about. Why wouldn't she want her around for it? What could she possibly have to say that she couldn't say in front of Jondy?

By the time she reached the house, Kiera and Zack were no longer in the living room, but a tattered suitcase she didn't recognize was sitting in front of the couch. She could hear someone moving around upstairs, so she ran up and walked into Shayna's bedroom, where Kiera was throwing various things into a garbage bag. Shayna didn't have much, seeing as how they hadn't brought anything to Manticore with them. It took Kiera a minute to notice someone was watching her, but she didn't jump when she noticed Jondy standing there. "Did you get the grub?"

Jondy placed her hands firmly on her hips. "Yeah. So, what were you and Zack talking about?"

Kiera bit her lip, then sat down on the bed. "We were talking about you two and Shayna. Maybe you should talk to Zack about it, you'd probably rather hear it from him. He's down in his room packing."

She crossed her arms, hating that she always seemed to be the last to know anything. She turned and barely held back from stomping down the stairs to get rid of some frustration. This time she wasn't quiet, she walked straight into Zack's room with her arms crossed and asked, "What is it that you two were talking about that Kiera seems to think I need to hear from you?"

He turned from pushing an armload of clothes into his suitcase and, strangely enough, looked thrilled to see her. Suddenly, she wasn't sure that what Kiera had wanted to talk to him about was negative. "Sit down, I think you'll be happy about this." She hurried over to the bed and sat down, impatiently waiting for him to start explaining. He didn't seem to want to put it off either. "Kiera made an offer that I think you'll really like, so I'm not too worried about you saying no. I guess it occurred to her when we were dragging Shayna into the house. With all the stress that Shayna has been under lately, Kiera's worried it will start affecting the baby, and it's pretty obvious at the moment that you're no help for her in that department." Jondy opened her mouth to protest, but he held up a hand to stop her. "I know you two became really close at Manticore, but right now she associates you with me, and I'm the one keeping her from Ben, so she's not a fan of either of us right now. It's not good for the baby, and in addition to that, you might not know what to do if something goes wrong. That's why Kiera offered to be the one to stay with Shayna during the rest of her pregnancy and for a while after she has the baby."

Jondy's eyes widened in surprise. "You mean…"

"Yeah, you don't have to stay with her for the next several months. You can go back to being SIC like usual. As soon as we relocate Kiera and Shayna, anyway, which I think is a better idea than leaving them here. Ben will come back here for his things, so we'll need to be long gone. I think Kiera already threw what little stuff you had into a bag for you."

Jondy really couldn't believe her luck. But poor Kiera. "Are you sure it's a good idea to leave Kiera and Shayna alone for months at a time? Kiera told me along time ago that she doesn't like Shayna, how long do you think it would be before they tore each other apart?"

Zack smiled at her, tossing one of his fake IDs into the suitcase. "That's when it becomes our job to intervene and calm things down, then get the hell out of there before Shayna drives us insane."

She laughed and hugged him happily, then headed upstairs to thank Kiera. Now the next several months were looking much better.


	19. Golden Gate

Disclaimer: I don't have any more creative ways to say I don't own anything.

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Family Relations

By Be Boring

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Chapter 19: Golden Gate

Syl looked out her apartment window at the tiny restaurant just across the street with absolute delight on her face, then turned to face Jondy. "I'm so glad it was safe for me to come back here, I was really enjoying running this place. I'm surprised Zack said it was okay for me to move back, you'd think he wouldn't even chance the possibility that you could have…" She broke off, looking embarrassed, but Jondy shrugged it off.

"It's alright, I know there was a good chance that I could have compromised you all, but trust me, I never said a word about you. There's no way they could know about you."

Syl smiled, still looking slightly embarrassed. "How come he didn't come along? He's usually the one who handles the relocating."

"He's relocating someone else, so he said I could come help you out." Jondy had spent the entire week with Syl, helping her pack from Denver, where she'd moved after she heard that Jondy was in Manticore, so that she could go back and handle her restaurant in North Dakota. She knew the only reason that Zack wanted her to handle this was because he didn't want her to have to deal with Shayna, who had only become more vocal about her opinions on Jondy and Zack. He was currently getting Kiera and Shayna settled in somewhere, but he refused to tell her where it was. That set her on edge, how could she do her job without knowing where everyone was? She had been thinking Zack's motives over, but there was only one conclusion that came to mind, and she simply didn't want to consider it, but it popped into her head several times a day.

He had said it himself last week, it would be extremely difficult for him to cope if anything happened to her. So, what if he was trying to ease her out of her position? Take her out of danger's way? He had strongly hinted at it, but she thought she had put a stop to that. Well, she wasn't going to let him separate her from the others. She would do anything possible to remain in contact with them, even without his permission if she had to. "What are you thinking about?" Syl asked after a couple minutes, staring curiously at her sister's face. "You looked like you were a million miles away."

She shrugged, forcing her mind back onto the task of hand. "Nothing much, just anything that happened to wander into my mind. I'm thinking about seeing Brin next, she'll be a sight for sore eyes."

Syl grinned and looked out the window again. "Yeah, if you're ever down, Brin's the one to go to. Did she ever tell you about the time that we worked it out so we could go to the same high school for a few months? My foster family moved when I was fourteen right to the area where Brin happened to be. It was the best coincidence in the world, and it took quite a while for Zack to find out. He had always called me on the cell phone that my foster family gave me, so I just didn't let on that we had moved, and I kept making it sound like everything was great so he didn't have a reason to come check on me. He was always popping in on Brin though, because she's always been a troublemaker, so I just had to hide out until he left. We had a blast, Brin is such a party animal. I've always been a bit shyer, more of a wallflower than the girl in the middle of the dance floor, but Brin managed to drag out a little bit of my wild side. I could see why Zack didn't like checking on her much, every time he showed up she had a different guy at her house, but she only did that because she could guess when he'd be coming, and she'd ask a guy to come over to hang out for a while. She thought it was so funny to watch Zack get all hyped up and saying she ought to have some dignity. What was it she said? Oh yeah, she said he seemed to puff up like a blowfish every time he saw a new 'boyfriend.' She was so much fun, I just wish it hadn't ended so soon. I don't think it was more than four months before Zack found out, and boy was he pissed. I got to see what Brin meant about the blowfish thing."

Jondy laughed with her, she knew exactly what Syl meant. "Yeah, I think I'll go see Brin and have some fun. I could use it."

* * *

It turned out that 'some fun' was a bit of an understatement. Even though she didn't tell Brin about her and Zack, she made it clear that she was with someone so that she didn't have to go through another series of horrid blind dates. It didn't deter Brin from taking her out to clubs, however. "Come on, it's not like you're actually going to do anything with these guys," Brin cajoled for the eightieth time as she tried to convince Jondy to go to yet another club with her. "I've got a pretty good surprise waiting for you at this one."

Surprise? Jondy crossed her arms stubbornly, but eventually nodded and dejectedly followed her sister out the door. She couldn't imagine what surprise Brin could have waiting for her, but she spotted it the second she walked through the club doors. "Krit!" she cried, running up to her ruefully grinning brother and giving him the tightest hug she could muster up. He laughed and ruffled her hair, admiring it quickly before turning to hug Brin.

"We saw each other a couple weeks ago," Krit explained as they crossed over to the bar. "It was a complete shock to both of us, but we've been making the most of it ever since." The glance the two of them shared, although brief, made it very clear to Jondy that they were indeed making the most of it. She shrugged it off, though. Did it matter if they were together? They were both troublemakers, they were actually well suited for each other.

"So, now we have partners in crime instead of two lone criminals," she cracked, settling herself down on a stool and grinning at them. "How fast did everything _really_ get started?" They both struggled to look as innocent as humanly possible, but she waved her index finger in front of their faces. "Oh no, no you don't. You can't lie to me. It's pretty obvious you two are more than crime partners, but you said you only saw each other a couple weeks ago. Was it just some sort of click?"

Krit's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. Who clicks better than X5s? What can I say, we're made to move fast."

A quick memory of her time in Maine flashed through Jondy's mind and she nodded. "Yeah, no kidding."

Brin turned to Krit with a mischievous look on her face. "You know, Jondy told me she's been seeing somebody, but she won't tell me who. Now I'm starting to think it's another X5. Who is it? Was it during a check up that things just started rolling? It can't be Ben, and I know it's not Krit, so is it Blake or Zane? Those are the only options left."

Jondy rolled her eyes and diverted them to the people slinking around the dance floor. "You're taking what I said too seriously," she mumbled uncomfortably. If Brin had freaked out about Zack and Syl's unexpected rendezvous, what would she think about a real relationship?

Krit's eyes never left her face, carefully watching her reaction to Brin's interrogation, then he finally commented quietly, "You forgot someone, Brin. You left out Zack."

Both Jondy and Brin whipped their heads around to look at him in shock, but Brin caught Jondy's reaction before she could cover it up. "Oh my God, is Krit right? Jondy, are you with Zack?"

She briefly toyed with the idea of lying, but decided it wasn't worth it. They would find out eventually. "Yeah, ever since I got back out of Manticore. Maybe the separation got us both thinking straighter or something, I don't know."

Brin placed one hand firmly on her hip, an emotion that Jondy couldn't quite place rising in her eyes. "How serious has it gotten?"

Jondy froze, feeling remarkably like a deer in the crosshairs of a rifle. _Oh boy, what will her reaction to that be?_ Before she could answer, however, Krit reached out and placed a hand on Brin's shoulder, glaring at her sternly. "I don't think that's any of our business. If Jondy is going to say anything that personal, you should let her offer it up freely instead of worming it out of her." Jondy continued to watch her sister, wondering just what that expression meant. Then, it hit her. _She's being protective of me. Maybe she's worried about the same thing that Shayna screamed at me; maybe she thinks Zack is taking advantage of me._ That was ridiculous, but she had the feeling that Brin wouldn't think so. At least Krit seemed to think Zack was trustworthy enough with his little sister.

Suddenly, Jondy's eyes flashed to the door of the club. "Krit, you'd better hide, Zack's here."

Krit immediately slid away through the crowd, walking straight for the men's bathroom. Instead of watching him go and making sure he got away safely, however, Brin glared furiously in Zack's direction as he approached them. _Oh no, what is she going to say to him?_ Jondy wondered nervously. "I wish you'd told me you were coming here," Zack said casually as he finally reached them. "Syl's place was a pretty big detour on the way to finding you."

Syl's name probably wasn't helping Brin any at the moment. "I just didn't want to call you and interrupt anything," she replied hurriedly, cutting Brin off before she could comment. "I know you were pretty busy. Was the job a handful?" She didn't exactly want Brin knowing what Zack had been up to. The less people who knew about Shayna's situation, the better.

Zack ran his fingers back through his hair, closing his eyes briefly as though the memory was painful. "You have no idea. I thought we were going to have to resort to sedatives to keep things under control, but everything finally settled down. I'll tell you more later," he added, glancing at Brin quickly. He must have caught the look on her face, because he asked, "Is something wrong?"

Just as Brin opened her mouth, probably to say absolutely everything on her mind, Jondy stomped roughly on her foot while Zack wasn't looking and said quickly, "No, nothing's wrong, I think Brin is just disappointed that you interrupted our time together. It's no fun when the C.O. breaks up party time, you know."

That answer must have worked for him, because he merely shrugged and turned back to her. Now she could tell he had had a specific reason for coming here. "Could I talk to you in private?" Jondy turned and looked pleadingly at Brin, silently begging her not to say anything rash. Brin finally sighed and followed Krit's path along the dance floor, waiting until Zack had turned back to Jondy before knocking lightly on the door to the men's bathroom and calling Krit back out. Jondy watched them leave out of the corner of her eye, then focused completely on Zack.

"So, what did you want to talk about?"

"I know this is going to sound weird, but I'm just going to ask anyway. If I told you to just go anywhere in the country you wanted, where would you go?"

Jondy was taken aback by the question. He was right, it _did_ sound weird. "Well, if I had to choose, um, I guess I wouldn't mind seeing San Francisco. I've always wanted to see the Golden Gate Bridge."

"When do you want to leave?"

Now she really didn't understand where he was going with this. "What? I thought it was just a hypothetical question, why would we actually go?"

"Just trust me. Is Brin having any problems, or can you leave right away?"

"Brin's fine, but why are we leaving?"

For some reason, he looked excited. "Just go get your things and tell Brin that something's come up and you have to go. If she was your ride here, I can give you a ride back to her place."

Jondy had no idea what to say to him as she trailed along behind him on the way out to the car. Once they were in, she tentatively changed the subject. "So, what exactly happened with Shayna?"

He rolled his eyes as he pulled out onto the road. "Let's just say I'm glad you didn't come along, she never gave up on her name calling the entire time. At least she didn't start screaming at Kiera. I think they might actually be okay together for a while. She tried escaping at least fifteen times; it was completely ridiculous. She never got very far, but she never gave up either. I think Kiera may have slipped her some pills when I wasn't looking, because she calmed down during my last couple days there, but I still decided it was safe to leave. Kiera knows what she's doing, and Shayna is no match for her. I just feel bad leaving her there with Shayna."

"I do too, but I have to admit, I'm glad it's not me there."

"Me too. Shayna isn't your biggest fan right now."

As soon as they had pulled up outside Brin's apartment building, Jondy headed straight up. At least Zack didn't decide to follow her, she didn't know if Krit was up there or not. It didn't really surprise her when she saw him sitting on the couch while Brin paced around. From the look on her sister's face, Jondy guessed that she had just interrupted a rant about Zack. Krit looked up and called out, "Hi, Jondy," in an unnecessarily loud voice to snap Brin out of her rampage. Brin turned to face her with her arms crossed, but she didn't say anything. Apparently she could tell that Jondy had something to say first.

"Something's come up, I'll have to leave right away," Jondy muttered apologetically, knowing she was going to spark more of her sister's anger. "I guess I'll just get my things." She could have sworn she heard Brin growl, "Something's come up, my ass!" under her breath, but she ignored it and started throwing a few stray things into her bag. Just as she was zipping it up, a hand landed gently on her shoulder. She turned and gave a sigh of relief when she saw it was Krit. She didn't really want to fight with Brin.

"Look, Brin will get over it eventually, she's just really protective." He glanced over his shoulder to where Brin was making herself a drink in the kitchen. "It may take a while, but Brin will understand someday. If it makes any difference, I'm glad you two got together. It's a great match."

Jondy smiled weakly, glad that at least someone didn't think this was a terrible thing. "Thanks, that means a lot. In the meantime, I'll do my best to make sure that Zack doesn't find out about you two. Maybe someday when he does find out, he'll be a little more open to the idea of letting you two stay together. Just do me a favor though. Try to be a little bit more discreet than you usually are?" Krit smiled and leaned down to give her a hug.

"Don't worry, I've got it covered. I'll keep in touch, and I'll try to get Brin to call you sometime too." She hugged him back happily, enjoying the support of at least one sibling. Brin didn't even look up as she approached, but Jondy pulled her down into a hug too. Brin returned it halfheartedly for a moment, then sighed and gave Jondy a firm squeeze.

"Just be careful, little sis, okay? Don't let him hurt you," Brin whispered in her ear, sounding much more emotional than usual.

"Don't worry," Jondy said as they pulled away. "Zack would never hurt me." Brin didn't seem comforted, but she still gave Jondy a smile before she headed downstairs to where Zack was waiting. He smiled as she climbed in, but the feeling that she wasn't going to like where they were going continued to grow inside her. She was dreading San Francisco by this point.

She didn't try to ask too many questions, because it became clear very early on that Zack wasn't going to tell her anything. At one point, she picked up his phone and glanced at the number last dialed, but she didn't recognize it. How was that possible? They only contacted the other X5s, and she knew all their numbers again. Why was he so excited about going to San Francisco? She was so distracted by her thoughts that she didn't even notice they were on the Golden Gate Bridge until they were halfway across it. For a few moments, she forgot all her worries as she gazed out the window. The bridge was beautiful, even more so than she remembered from pictures she'd seen of it. Something about it had always made her want to see it, even though the other kids at school couldn't have cared less about some bridge in the west that they would probably never even be near. It was while looking at a picture of it for the first time that she realized how much she wanted to get away from the Casteau's and see the rest of the country. Here was her chance. She couldn't wait for morning so that she could see the bridge in the sunlight.

To her surprise, Zack turned not even a minute after they'd passed over the bridge and started winding his way through residential streets until he pulled up in front of a little two-story house. Jondy couldn't see why they were here, the house was clearly uninhabited. "What do you think?" Zack asked as she studied the place, still trying to figure out why he'd brought her here.

"What do you want me to think? I don't understand what we're doing here."

Zack hurried forward and grabbed her arm, leading her up to the house and pulling her inside. She found herself in a tiny front hall with the kitchen just ahead of her, the living room to her left, and a fairly large bathroom to her right. Stairs in the living room apparently led up to the bedrooms, while a door she could see in the kitchen must have led down to the basement. "Zack, I still don't get it. Why are you showing me this place?"

Why did he still look so happy? "It's your new house, Jondy."

She raised her eyebrows, her stomach dropping lower all the time. "Are you trying to say…?"

"Well, I haven't bought it yet because I wanted to see what you would think, but I'm hoping you'll say yes."

Say yes? How could she even think of it? She had been right, he didn't want her to be SIC anymore. He thought it was too dangerous and he didn't want her to get caught again. "You know, I'm really not interested," she snapped coldly, wiping the somewhat eager look from Zack's face. "Couldn't you have been a little straighter with me back at Brin's before you dragged me out here?"

He stood there for the longest time, staring at her quizzically, until a look of realization dawned on his face. Without warning, he chuckled and shook his head, apparently struggling not to burst out laughing completely. He knew better than anyone else that laughing would just make her angry. Even his strained chuckles were starting to rile her up. She crossed her arms and glared at him, wishing he would just get to the point. Finally, he ran his fingers back through his hair and asked, "Did you think I was asking you to step down as SIC?" When she continued to glare at him, he said, "Don't worry, that's not what this is about at all. It's just that I set Kiera and Shayna up at my cabin in Maine, so we need a new place to come back and relax at. Since the cabin was my choice, I figured the next place should be yours to pick out. I just called it your house because you chose the location."

All the tension immediately drained out of Jondy's shoulders. "So, you don't want me to give up my position?"

"I would never dare ask you."

The thrill that ran through Jondy's body made her shiver with its strength; it was just such a relief to know that Zack still wanted to be partners. She grabbed his wrist and dragged him off to start exploring the house. "You know, we really need some furniture in this place. I wonder if Peter still has all those beds?"

"Beds? I'd settle for even just a chair," Zack commented as he stared around at the empty space around them.

Jondy grinned at him, curious about how he would react to what she wanted to say. Did she dare try it? Of course. "No, I'd rather have a bed first. If it's going to be ours, then this place needs to be 'broken in,' and frankly a chair or the floor doesn't cut it for me."

His eyebrows were in severe danger of disappearing into his hairline, but he grinned back. "I'll have a bed in this house by breakfast."

As they explored the rest of the house, Jondy realized that this was the first time she had truly felt relaxed since she'd first been captured. No Manticore, no Shayna, no Ben, and no worries about where she stood with Zack. When she had first heard about Cinderella, it had struck her that despite Cinderella's meager beginnings, she still ended up living happily ever after. _Happily ever after? This is the closest I'll ever get._ Which, frankly, was just fine with her.

The End

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Author's Note: Wow, I can't believe it's done. I had to put in the part about the house in San Francisco because of course that's all Zack remembered about Jondy in TKAA. I've debated doing a sequel to this someday, which would probably take place in Season 2, but we'll see if I get to it. The next story I'll be posting is "Black Ice", the third installment of my Kay series, so who knows how much time I'll have to focus on a sequel. Thanks to everybody who reviewed, you guys are great! I guess it's my last chance to say it for this story, so I'll put it in all caps for the heck of it. PLEASE REVIEW! Wow, that sounds a lot like begging, doesn't it? :P


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